The Feeling's Mutual
by Foxmorgorth
Summary: Recently adopted from Rumbling Night Cutter, 'Hiccup hates Astrid, Astrid hates Hiccup, Hiccup has a crush on Astrid which he kept from her, Astrid has a crush on Hiccup which she kept from him, but is hate the only feeling the two will always openly share?
1. The Feeling's Mutual, My Enemy

This is Foxmorgorth, recently Rumbling Night Cutter had placed this story up for adoption, I have since adopted it, I will do my best to follow the writing style but I shall remain true to the story. Those more familiar with Rumbling Night Cutter's writing style please critic. The first five Chapters are straight from Rumbling Night Cutter, all other chapters will be mine.

**Hi. Here is my attempt to make myself do non violent, serious writing. A modern Hiccstrid AU. Also, to any of my followers or regular readers, a few announcements regarding my other stories. The Gang is on unofficial hiatus, Unless I get ****inspiration**** for it. My priorities are RYL, and Ghosts of the Night Fury. Time Fury will be worked on on the weekends. Depending on reviews, this May or may not become priority. -****Rumbling Night Cutter**

The Feeling's Mutual, My Enemy

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was in World History class.

He hated that class so, so much. For a couple of reasons. One: the ever blabbing Snotlout Jorgenson would never, ever, ever shut up and stop interrupting the lesson, or flirting with the closest entity wearing a skirt.

The other reason he hated this class: he just plain despised the subject. He didn't care about the past or the people in it. It would be of no use to the young boy if he didn't know when the Neolithic Revolution was. He would never be faced in a situation where he had to name why Rome fell.

But he suffered through it, for the sake of good grades. If he made valedictorian, or even finished with honors, maybe his dad would stop looking at him like something disgusting the man's enormous foot had stepped in.

Oh, who was he kidding. That in itself was a fantasy. He'd tried as hard as he could, but it never seemed to get anywhere.

He final reason he detested World History: he sat next to Astrid Hofferson. The girl who had bullied him from day one of freshman year. He was only a sophomore, but a year and a half was still a deceptively long time. The blond beauty had done everything from shove him in mud puddles to the cliché cramming of boy into undersized locker.

He didn't like her.

She didn't like him.

The feeling was mutual. It was a little unfair, though, that one party was a fitness nut, this party being the mighty, undefeated Girl's Wrestling Team Captain, Astrid, and op the other being a nerd, namely Hiccup Haddock.

He didn't mind being called a nerd so much. It was an apt, but accurate description, and he simply didn't care. He was entitled to enjoy whatever he liked. So what if he found plot line more interesting than watching meat-heads tackle each other for a ball that wasn't even shaped like a ball?

So what if he didn't like parties, mostly because the music hurt his already near deaf ears and shortened his hearing aids, and that he despised alcohol. Yes, Hiccup was almost deaf. He had a hearing disorder that had slowly eaten away at his auditor reception capabilities since he was a kid. The doctors said he would most likely would suffer complete hearing loss by graduation. But even without this significant factor in his dislike for large gatherings, he would much rather stay at home in the peace and quiet while his dad was gone, so that nobody could hurt him.

So what if he didn't play sports? He's a freaking amputee here, he's not going for track or basketball. He's only a month or two out of limb loss, his limp is still very visible!

So, like he said, he doesn't mind being called a nerd. An almost deaf, amputee nerd who tries his best to keep both oddities a secret. Maybe his dragon drawings would draw attention from the bright red devices in his ears that were the only reason he could hear anything at all. Maybe his liking for fantasies would keep people scoffing and rolling their eyes, so that their attention wouldn't be attracted to the uneven gait, or the clinking of the prosthetic under his shortened leg.

He sighed and subtly lifted his hands to his ears, lowering the volume of his hearing aids to tune out the teacher. He didn't like him ether. Less then he not-liked Astrid Hofferson, but he still felt a steady flow of ire for the man.

He concentrated on the drawing in front if him, trying to distract himself.

He loved dragons, another thing claiming his nerd status. He had a large collection of his drawings of the mythical creatures in his room at home. Night Fury, Snaptrapper, Whispering Death, Skrill. The reptile taking 2D form in front of him was a new one, and one that engrossed his attentions fully as he started on the right side.

The teacher droned on and on, wordless to Hiccup's defective ears. He rolled his eyes and went back to his creation.

Like he said, he doesn't mind being a nerd. Being a nerd meant he had an excuse to disappear into his made up fantasy of dragons and battles, or acceptance and happiness, to go into a world where his father didn't treat him like an annoying pet that he had never wanted to begin with. To go into a world where Astrid Hofferson didn't torment him on a daily basis just for existing. A world where he had two strong legs, arms that were worth something, and ears that weren't going to be more useless than the rest of him by the end of his education.

What good is reality to Hiccup? Reality sucks. Daydreams don't. But... You always had to wake up and face the music sometime, he thought as he shook himself out of his trance and turned his hearing aids back on.

"And so," the teacher said as Hiccup added a second set of wings under the ones he'd already drawn. "You will all be assigned a project due by winter break." He started handing out packets, and Hiccup's fist clenched around his pencil in annoyance. He hated projects too.

Right now he just wanted to go home and be with his pet, Toothless.

Things got even worse as the teacher continued on. "You'll all be assigned partners."

Great, great, great. Now he'll likely have to be paired with Snotlout. The idiot would likely just ditch him and go after Astrid Hofferson, or some similar hot, mean girl out to crush his soul and steal his dreams.

He honestly didn't know why he continued. He would never get his dad's love, or his leg or his hearing back. He was low, and he didn't know how he could get much lower than he already had.

Because he's pathetic, and weird, and stupid enough to have a crush on the girl who made his life a living hell.

Astrid Hofferson.

"OK, then." The teacher continued. "I'll call out the names of the teams. Tuffnut Thorsten," the male blond twin raised his head off the desk sleepily, going slack-jawed.

Hiccup wouldn't mind if he was chosen to be paired with Tuff. Not to bad a partner, Hiccup thought. Won't get in the way, and he and Tuffnut sort of got along.

"Camicazi Bog." Ah well, he thought, beginning on the dragon's head. Offhandedly, he decided to call it a Stormcutter, for no apparent reason. The name just sounded supremely awesome.

"Ruffnut Thorsten." Tuff's counterpart of the opposite sex mirrored her brother's earlier action, groaning as she did.

"Eret North." At this, she squealed with joy. She had an infatuation with the muscle bound dude as far as anyone could remember. Eret himself looked a little green. He in no way shared the enthusiastic girl's affections. Quite the opposite, really.

"Snotlout Jorgenson."

Whatever.

"Heather Fraud." Ah well. There were so many people left in class, most of which he didn't know. He just really, really hoped that whoever he ended up with, they would be nice and tolerable.

"Hiccup Haddock," he said finally, and I continued drawing, idly listening for the name he would be talking to over school for the next few months. When it did, he pushed his pencil so hard into the desk from shock it snapped, the led tip hitting him between the eyes. Said eyes were wide open in shock and fear and the name of his partner.

"Astrid Hofferson."

Hiccup was going to die.

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson decided she severely hated World History. As soon as her name was called to pair with the skinny little nerd in the back of the class, she muttered a slew of violent curses that would make hardened prisoners cringe at her language.<p>

She looked back at Hiccup, who looked like he'd been charged with several volts of electricity, and her heart skipped a beat.

Oh, no. Oh nononononononono!

Not him! Anyone but him! I couldn't stand looking at the guy! I honestly couldn't. I turned away from him and gritted my teeth.

She knew it would be pointless to ask for another partner. Mr. Treacherous was one if those unrelenting, my-way-or-the-high-way kind of teachers who never, ever compromised. And now he had set up the ultimate punishment.

He had paired her with Hiccup freaking Useless Haddock! She hated his guts, she hated his face, she hated his existence! He was a no good, half troll, rat-eating munge bucket that she couldn't believe had the nerve to try to to better than her!

He was rich, while her father was an unemployed slob, making her get a job to pay for their dismal little house in the slums.

He seemed to be lost in some perpetual daydream, while she couldn't escape reality that easily. Every time she closed her eyes and tried to forget the awful life she had, it seemed to focus in on the pain even more.

Yes, she was jealous. Yes, she knew it was an ugly emotion, but with everything else about her having a morbid need to be flawless, she allowed her emotions to have a little leeway.

Except when it comes to affection. When she had first seen Hiccup Haddock, she had felt some kind of crush on the small guy in her chest. A feeling that was instantly Hulk Smashed by her perfectionism, busy schedule, and overwhelming stress. Not to mention the fact her father had basically stolen everything from her. She didn't have time, need, or want for a boyfriend, or children. Which was why it was even more infuriating that Hiccup Haddock had the nerve to stir gushy mushy feelings in her.

She hated the fact that she had a crush on Hiccup Haddock, and he needed to be punished for being adorable enough to make her feel weak.

Make her feel jealous

Make her feel period.

On second thought, no leeway for her emotions!

But the anger and jealously occasionally turned to shame at the nerd's big, green, miserable eyes as if she had kicked him while he was down. And while she had, in fact, done that, she still took out her frustrations on the itty, bitty nerd who made her so freaking confused.

She too another glance backwards at the rich boy she both despised and adored.

He still had the shell shocked look on his face, but it quickly changed. He groaned loudly and rolled his eyes towards the heavens, and held his hands out. He both seemed to be pleading with divine forces to strike him down, and saying to said divine forces _why are you doing this to me?_

She had a similar prayer, and moaned as she banged her head on the table, trying to hold back tears of frustration.

This was a bad situation, no other way around it. She was stuck with the boy who made her unstable for months. She's have to hear his infuriatingly nasal, pleasing voice, and talk to his infernally cute face, and endure his rage-inducing funny jokes.

Or she would fail the semester.

Bad, bad situation. Chances were this dynamic duo would be reduced to a solo act before the grade was handed in, and Astrid ensured that it would be her, and not the spoiled rich kid, that made it to the end!

If she didn't, her father would be mad. And her father mad was something she didn't like. When he was mad, he made her life miserable, and much, much harder than it was already.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as the bell rang, ending the school day for Berk High. She saw Hiccup still in his seat, shaking his head at the ceiling and mouthing, 'Why,' over and over and over.

It ignited an irrational flame of indignation in her. She knew she was overreacting, she despised him with all her being. She couldn't be hurt about the fact he was miserable they had been paired up.

No, OK no she couldn't. Definitely not. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not at all.

She stomped over to the smallish nerd. When he saw her approach, he glanced at his desk before frantically shoving the paper on it back into his bag as fast as he could possible move. Astrid could have sworn she saw something in his ridiculously long hair as it fell to one side as he leaned over, or that she heard the click of a spring somewhere.

Those minor details were blotted out by the raging tempest of emotions in her ribcage. She slammed her hand down on the laminated wood in front or the boy, and he flinched.

He looked up at her and scowled. "Yes, partner?" OK, she really hated his guts.

"Listen here, Haddock," she snarled, poking him in the chest. He met her eyes with a steely green look of her own, pouring just as much contempt into it as she did into her own death glare. "I know that this isn't the ideal situation for ether of us. Let's be clear about something. I," she growled, leaning over him a little. He leaned backwards a bit, "hate," she came even closer, and he gulped, backing up even more, "you!"

That was the final straw for Hiccup, though, apparently. His face turned stony, and he had the courage to push her away from him by the shoulders. "Feeling's mutual," he said in a dry, fed-up tone. "Can't imagine why though. All I've ever done to you was breath the same air as you. You, however, have tortured me so constantly a medieval dungeon master would be telling you to lay off."

"Do you want a black eye?"

He had the nerve to tilt his head to the side and consider it. "Eh, maybe. Never had one before, though Tuffnut did accidentally shove me off the top of a tree when we were littler and broke my wrist. Maybe you want to do it to my other one so it doesn't feel left out of the painful fun."

"Don't tempt me, Haddock," she growled, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "I will _break_ you if you ruin this grade for me, got it?!"

"Certainly," he said, unafraid. She had to give it to him, this kid had balls. Snotlout would be begging for mercy at this point, but he just kept his cool and wrenched his shirt from her grip.

He smoothed the garment out and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "Unfortunately."

"Troll," she muttered.

"Butt-elf," he grumbled childishly, probably not meaning for her to hear.

"Bride of Grendel," she shot back loud enough to be in earshot. He just waved a dismissive hand behind him and shoved his hood over his head to join the crowd of kids leaving with him.

She had half a mind to go after him and beat him to a pulp for back-sassing me like that. But the last thing she needed was to be arrested for assault on the superintendent's son. That would make her father furious. He would probably literally kill her.

She looked at the empty space once occupied by her sworn enemy, then huffed, grabbing her own bag and heading out the door too.

* * *

><p>Hiccup cursed himself once he was outside.<p>

He hated the fact that he had felt his heart soar that she was talking to him without trying to squish his spirit like a grape. That it was just plain fact that she was telling him, not stuff that made the barrel of a gun look awfully friendly.

He hated the way his heart sped up when she grabbed his shirt. He hated the rush he got from speaking with her, even if it was a verbal spark more spiteful than Spitelout's name. He hated himself for having a crush on Astrid Hofferson.

"You need to let this go," he told himself. "She bullies you, tortures you, makes your life more miserable than it already is. Why do you continue to like her? Why?"

I dunno. Just because? His brain answered helpfully, and he groaned. It won't matter. He'd just gotten a text from his doctor, with the latest diagnostic results on his hearing problem.

Within months, he would never hear anything ever again. Might as well make the most of sounds while he could still hear them.

But at least he wouldn't be able to hear Astrid Hofferson's hateful words in his ears in a few months... Or anything else. He leaned against the wall of the school. Nobody else was around, so he decided then to let it all out.

"GAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, the sound ripping out of his chest like a wild animal tearing through his lungs. He dropped his backpack and slammed his fists into the wall. Pain shot through his arm, but it made him feel better.

Whack!

That brick was his feelings for Astrid Hofferson.

Whack!

That brick was Astrid Hofferson herself.

Whack.

That brick was his useless hearing problem.

Whack!

And that one was his father's scowling face when he laid eyes in his son, and the disappointed shake in his head.

Hiccup breathed heavily, and clutched his bruised and bloodied knuckles, hissing in pain.

But it felt good. Good to imagine conquering the things in his life he hated. But it would never come true. Hiccup Haddock could never conquer anything. He was an expert at calming animals of all sorts, but never overpowering them.

No matter what he did, he would always be at the mercy of others. Bottom of the food chain. And in a few months, around the time he turned in the project, he would be completely deaf. He scowled back into the brick that was smeared with blood from his hand, but unbroken.

He needed to be like that, he decided. No matter how much hate people put on him, he would never break. Never bend. Never prove them right of his weakness. He was walking without a left leg. If that didn't prove he was strong, he didn't know what was.

Let the silence come, he thought. I'm strong. I'll take it.

* * *

><p>Hiccup Haddock hated Astrid Hofferson.<p>

Astrid Hofferson detested Hiccup Haddock.

Hiccup Haddock had a crush on Astrid Hofferson.

Astrid Hofferson had a crush on Hiccup Haddock.

Would they ever realize hate wasn't the only feeling that was mutual?

New Author's Note: I change Merida to Camicazi, mainly because Merida doesn't fit in the story to me.


	2. Regret and Restlessness

Regret and Restlessness

Hiccup Haddock was regretting punching the wall.

In hindsight, it was stupid. He was angry and frustrated and wanted to hurt the most unhurt-able thing he knew of. Astrid Hofferson. But he settled for a big bunch of bricks and cement. Both were a stupid idea to take on, and he knew it when he tried.

He sat on the kitchen counter of his home, wrapping thin white strips of cloth over his raw knuckles. The bricks had scraped them up pretty badly, and regular band-aids just stung like heck, and wouldn't stick for more than a few minuets.

When he finished, he flexed his hand, getting used to the scratchy material. He scowled and studied it a bit more. "Whattya think Bud," he asked his pet, Toothless. "Makes me look pretty tough, don't you think?"

Toothless was a mutt dog, a mix of so many different breeds, he didn't favor any of them. But he was one of the most impressive dogs Hiccup had ever seen.

He was about the same size and height of a wolfhound, but he was much more intimidating than that breed. His head looked like a wolf's, but the eyes were bigger, and a deep green color. His body was built for running, long, lithe and muscular, with a thick glossy black pelt covering his entire body. The dog's tail was long and bushy, with a rusty red tip.

The dog's name was because of the number one most bizarre thing about his dog. Toothless was born with no fangs. He had all the other dog teeth, but where he should have four curved ivory weapons, there was just hardened gums. He could still do a nasty bite, though. The little teeth were small, but pointy!

Toothless was Hiccup's service dog, trained for the day Hiccup's ears went silent. He was Stoick's last gift to Hiccup, before the large man had grown disappointed in his son that was different from him in every way.

Stoick was a mountainous man, Hiccup was an under-grown twig. Hiccup was the definition of a geek in every way except for the need of glasses. Stoick was the prime example of manly. It didn't help relations between them that Stoick Haddock had never wanted a son, anyway. Hiccup was an accident. The result of a mistake the big man had made with his girlfriend. Hiccup's mother hadn't survived his birth, and Hiccup almost didn't make it ether. But the little guy had managed to pull through though.

Stoick had tried, to his credit. He'd comforted his some the day they told him one day he would go deaf at a young age. He gave Hiccup Toothless in that attempt. He raised the boy for a while. But as Hiccup drifted from the path Stoick had lead in life, enjoying stories instead of sports, he had gradually given up.

He was stuck with a son with hearing issues and was foolish enough to go and get his left leg lost. Hiccup still refused to acknowledge the circumstances of his loss of limb. They were too fantastic, to bizarre, to unexplained, too... Hiccup to be true.

But it was. And he hated the reason.

Hiccup sighed and sank to the ground, rubbing the massive dog on the top of the head in a show of affection for the beast. He panted and licked Hiccup's cheek lovingly, whining and nudging his boy like a puppy.

"Hey Bud," he said. "Remember that girl I keep telling you about? That cruel, mean one that hates my guts and wants to mount my head on a battle ax?"

Toothless growled, revealing the small but deadly rows of yellow ivory. Hiccup scratched him behind one triangular ear. "I hate her too Bud. But I also like her."

This time the black dog's respond was an unamused stare, as if he was criticizing the boy Haddock.

"Yeah, I know. What's wrong with me? I would probably make her that battle axe to lop my head off with. I'm just that pathetic."

A dry huff and a blank look was all he got for that.

"But I'm gonna be seeing a lot of her now."

Toothless's eyes widened, and he tilted his head, as if to say,_ you got her as a girlfriend?! Are you insane?!_

"No no, Toothless," Hiccup held his hands out. "I'm not doing it by choice, belive me. If I could, I would choose Ruff or Tuff. They and Fishlegs actually seem to listen to me, if you believe that kinds stuff can happen. No, it's. He knows we hate each other, it's as if he's making an experiment. 'How long would it take cutthroat girl to murder weak nerd if forced to work together'." He spread his hands, as if picturing a newspaper headline.

He sighed and put an arm around Toothless lovingly, pulling his big furry torso onto the lad's bone thin lap, where he stayed happily. Toothless was way to big to be a lapdog, but the fact didn't seem to register with him. So, Hiccup figured he might as well embrace it.

He scratched up and down Toothless's body with curved fingers, the animal grumbling and wining with pleasure, black hairs sticking to Hiccup's clothing as he did. He loved Toothless for so many reasons. The black mutt would be his ears in a few moths. Not to mention that the animal was more intelligent than anything else on four legs, responding to English in a way that implied he understood the situation perfectly. But one of the strongest reasons was that Toothless could make Hiccup forget. Forget about the father he'd disappointed by coming out wrong, forget about the school where he felt like everyone was watching and waiting for him to mess up so they could all have some fun at his expense.

But he also made Hiccup forget about the mean, angry girl he was besotted with that hated him for existing. While the negative feeling was mutual, he couldn't help but be attracted to her strength, her will to fight for herself and for what she wanted, and the way she wouldn't take crap from anybody at all.

He envied the blond with his soul, yet he hated her as well. It was all so messed up. He sighed and took out his hearing aids, the world falling almost completely silent the moment he did. Toothless rolled to his paws and followed his charge out of the kitchen.

Hiccup didn't feel up to doing to much that night. He'd just sleep it off, and look for a way to distract himself in the morning.

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson couldn't sleep.<p>

She hardly ever slept in the first place. Ever since she got into high school, stress had seemingly hard wired her brain to never ever relax like she wanted to, as if her flight or flight instinct had been permanently switched to on.

She rolled about in her sheets, trying to force her body to rest and regain energy for the next day. If the last year and a half were anything to go by, though, she was gonna have four, maybe five hours max before she had to get up, get dressed, and run to school before her dad woke up.

Finally she shot up, gripping her sheets with white knuckles.

Why was it so hard to get to sleep. Why did she keep reliving all the things she did to Hiccup? She was plagued by all of it. That wasn't the only thing. Her father...

"Nuh-Uh," she muttered to herself. "No. Don't think about it." Because it made it real. It made the things he did to her when she showed weakness real and not just nightmares. If she didn't dwell on them to much, she could pretend they were horrible, monstrous nightmares instead of what they really were.

She gave up on sleeping for the moment, and turned on the dim, buzzing light above her. It wasn't hard, her room was so relatively tiny that the light switch beside the door was less than arms length away.

Her room was tiny, with a large mirror parallel to the bed. In the house, it was the one thing that wasn't dirty or broken. She took good care of the mirror, maintained it every day. She didn't even like a smudge on it.

It was how she evaluated herself, after all. It was how she tried to see what other people saw when they looked at her. At her best, she saw a powerful woman ready to take on the world and make it hers. She felt proud. Confident. Powerful. Like a viking of old, large and untouchable, mowing down enemies like blades of grass. She felt like nothing could stand in her way.

But in her current state, that's not what she saw staring back at her from the reflective glass. Her hair was an enormous blond rat nest. Her blue eyes were pale and bloodshot, pupils still adjusting to the sudden light as black spots danced in her vision. Her nightclothes, a mangy white T-shirt that was a little broader than her shoulders, and baggy pink sweatpants.

What she saw looking out of the mirror felt more real than the other Astrid she saw ever did. She saw someone lost and alone and so angry for reasons she couldn't even comprehend. She saw someone weak, imperfect... Damaged.

She snorted and pulled her unruly hair out of her eyes.

Stop talking nonsense, she told herself. Your not damaged. Your not flawed. Your not weak. You don't just say it, you SHOW it. Almost every boy in school is afraid of you, and all the girls are jealous of you.

Self-flatter wasn't really cheering her up, though. She sighed and shook her head, giving her reflection a half lidded, sleepy glare and a yawn. She reached beside her to the nightstand, and pulled a pair of large glasses onto her face. They were bulky, and not nearly as comfortable as her contact lenses, but she wasn't going to go put them back in.

There, now her damaged self at least looked clearer. She pushed the plastic bridge of the corrective lenses to the bridge of her own nose.

She hated the fact that her eyes were huge. That meant that her glasses also had to be freaking enormous. Almost making her look nerdy. She scowled at herself. She didn't like this image of her, without the preparations she made in the morning to look like that titan among ants. This version made her feel like the bug, like at any moment she could be squished.

She tore her eyes away from her reflection and picked up her phone. Opening it with a click, she decided to try to calm her mind with a puzzle game or something. Take her head away from her father, herself, and Hiccup.

It was only times like this, when she was too angry to be tired, that she actually felt closer to calm than the first day after her mother had left them. Left her alone with him. She hadn't said anything beforehand. One day, she'd just woken up and felt like something in her world was terribly, horribly wrong. Not even bothering to get dressed, she had raced down the stairs of their old home.

Her dad had been crying, and her mom hadn't been anywhere. She had put the pieces together. They had been fighting recently, almost coming to blows. Little Astrid had shaken her head in horror, before dashing to the door as hard as she could, just in time to see her mother climb into a car and drive off, leaving her behind. And not ever once coming back.

She hadn't even been able to call her mother after that. She never responded to any attempts at contact. This had always confused the blond. She and her mother had always been as close as any mother-daughter relationship could be. But that sudden loss of contact... Was her mother dead?

Deep thoughts had glazed her eyes over and left her thumb hovering over the game app on her phone. She sat like that for a while, but one of the things she asked herself, was would her mother be proud of what she became. The mother she had loved for ten years, not the traitorous deserter who never looked back, that is.

Would that mother be proud of a bully who tries to make herself perfect?

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson had decided something.<p>

She didn't hate Hiccup Haddock as much as she thought. She still felt a burning pit of anger for his existence smoldering in her soul, and her crush on him was still the unholy mother of does not compute, but she had decided he was... Tolerable.

That didn't mean she was suddenly stop bullying him, or try to be his friend. It didn't mean that anything was gonna change. It didn't even mean she was gonna be gentler with him now.

Hiccup Haddock needed to be shown she was the best and brightest, that he was beneath her... But she was willing to offer a cease fire on their private hate war temporarily, until the project was done.

There was no use throwing a tantrum over the fact she was paired with someone she couldn't stand, it would just be acting like a baby.

And Astrid Hofferson was not gonna act like a baby.

The next day, at school, she was still tired from her lack of sleep the previous night. In fact, her rumination a had ensured the gears in her head were turning all night long. As she approached the education building, she rubbed and blew into her gloved hands, trying to warn them up. The large fur hood over her head was more than enough to keep her ears and neck warm, but it did nothing for her numb nose and chilled skin.

She didn't care for Berk's winters.

Not at all.

As soon as she got insides she pulled the massive hood off of her head and tugged off her gloves, wiggling her fingers to try and get the blood flow to resume as normal.

The she spotted Hiccup. She walked over to the little nerd, who was leaning wearily against one of the entry hall's pillars. He didn't even notice her approach, just sighed and leaned even heavier against the doors.

It was odd. She didn't feel the same drive to make him miserable. She still planned on doing it when the cease fire was off, but she didn't feel the same need to do it right now. Maybe it was from thinking about her mother last night. It was probably only a temporary effect, though.

"Not much of a morning person?" She asked in a chilling tone. To her surprise, he didn't even turn around. In an instant, the fire in her belly was blazing again. Here she was, tired and miserable and aching all over, yet willing to extend some form of compromise, and here he was, the little eel daring to ignore her!

"Haddock, you have ten seconds to turn around and face me like a man... Fish-bone... Thing, or so help me, I'm gonna-"

He pulled a hand up to the side of his head and seemingly fiddled with his hair. He almost seemed to be pressing something, like a volume button. "-kick your arse so hard it will replace your head. Not that they're too different."

Suddenly he screamed and spun on his right foot. "A-Astrid?!" He stammered. The ballsy Hiccup from yesterday seemed to have taken a holiday and left the same victim she could-wait a second, did she just call him a victim. How long had she been doing that?!

Didn't matter. "Yes, Useless. Astrid. You may know me from such things as the freaking project we're stuck together on."

She took a deep breath, and offered her hand out to him, swallowing her pride as far down as it could go. She still wore a scowl on his face as if she were plotting his gruesome, horrifying murder.

He eyeballed her hand as if it might have been electrified. "aaaand what's this?" He asked.

"Me... Willing to work with you." When he gave her a look that blatantly screamed "No, really, what is it," she scoffed. "I'm serious here Useless. We're stuck together. You know, he's probably planned this out to see if we destroy each other. I hate you, you hate me. Like you said, the feeling's mutual. I'm not offering to he your friend, I'm just offering to stop... Harassing you until the projects done. In return, you have to stop being all..." She came up at a loss for words.

Like she said, her crush was the unholy mother of does not compute. She didn't know what it was about him that she liked, that she needed him to stop doing. "This," she decided, gesturing to the boy in general.

The stick figure of a human being took a quick glacé down at himself in shock. "You just gestured to all of me," he protested adamantly.

"Exactly. Stop being all of you. OK, deal?" She held out her hand once more.

"Um-"

"Deal," she pressed harder.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," he dead panned, and she shook her head. "I can make your life miserable, or we can both benefit each other. What's there to negotiate?"

"You apparently wanting me to rebuild myself from ground up.

"Deal?!" She snarled. Like a wildcat. She was offering her mortal enemy a lifeline here, and he was questioning it. Hadn't the idiot ever heard the phrase 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?"

Hiccup Haddock finally sighed and shook the offered hand begrudgingly, flinging her arm away from him like it was something slimy and disgusting he'd picked up against his will. Why, exactly, did that hurt?

"Deal," he moaned.


	3. Depression and Fear

Depression and Fear

Hiccup Haddock was depressed.

His hearing had just taken another step down. It was getting harder and harder to hear. Even the seating aids were starting to become quiet, no matter how many times he turned up the volume on it.

But the bright side was that for the first time in a year and a half of knowing Astrid Hofferson, he wasn't being pushed around by a girl. Said girl still scared the crap out of him on a regular basis and made no shortage of dry, cutting remarks and sent enough dirty glares his way to wither an army.

And said bully was sitting beside him in World History. Right beside him. She seemed to be going through some sort of hormonal imbalance or something. At times she was some kind of new Astrid that kept her big blue eyes on the desk, her mouth a thin white line and bangs forming a golden veil over her face. And at other times, she was the fiery, snapping demon girl that he knew and despised.

But Sullen Astrid was different from Normal Astrid in another way. She seemed to sit... Close to him almost elbow-to-elbow, which freaked him out a bit. He was riding on the hope Astrid, while being a despicable girl with no moral compass, was at least a girl of her word,, and wouldn't beat the snot out of him if he said the wrong thing.

"What's this crappy project supposed to be," Sullen Astrid mumbled next to him. Her elbow was literally right next to his. He nervously pulled his arm off the row of desks, pretending to bend over and search for something in his bag.

He could practically feel her inexplicably revert to Normal Astrid behind him, her Death Ray glare of hate boring into his back and nearly searing a hole into his body. He shifted nervously as he bent down, prosthetic creaking in his pant leg.

"What was that?" Astrid snapped quietly, looking around for the source of the creak. Hiccup panicked. His eyes widened, and he was thankful he was facing away from his bully, so she wouldn't see the look of horror on his face.

"U-u-um," he stuttered, trying to force his voice to stay as calm as he could. She couldn't know. She really, really couldn't. She would see him as even weaker than before, and then pathetic if she discovered his hearing. The searchers knew about his disabilities. They were working on a way to keep Hiccup educated when his ears went silent. "The desk," he got out. "I-I hit it with my, um, leg." He continued.

His stump was aching under the cover of his leg. It was almost healed, but the operating word was almost. It stung like crazy, and made his severe limp even worse when the leg acted up.

Surprisingly no one had questioned when he returned to school after a month with an even more dysfunctional gait than before. They probably thought he'd jacked up his knee or something.

Astrid looked at him with contempt. "Clumsy looser," she muttered.

"Ray of sunshine," I grumbled sarcastically under my breath, and straightened with the exam assignment in hand. He laid it out on the desk between them. "OK, lots a stuff to do," he sighed, and Astrid looked at him like he had just declared the sky was blue.

"Of course there is, Useless," she snarled. "Why would it be a multi-month turn in time if it was short and simple?"

He gave her a dry look and a sarcastic shrug. "I ramble when I'm nervous."

"You don't normally ramble around me," she commented. It might have been his imagination, but her tone held a smidgen less ire than usual, as if she had burned out some of the fire that made her torment him so much.

"Well, Mr. Treacherous is lazy," he commented. "He might be using this as an excuse to not have to grade anything for a while. But..." He hissed out air through his teeth. "Given all there is on this worksheet... Evidently not. Summaries if the French Revolution, Neolithic Revolution, American Revolution-"

"I get it," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him. He shifted his desk a little bit away from her, if only to make himself feel genuinely safer. He didn't like how close she was. She had to be playing at something, some new way to torture him. Make him think she actually... Didn't despise his soul as much as he thought, then BAM! Crush him, like s berry.

"Lots of revolutions," she muttered. "There has to be... He's got to be kidding here. A freaking skit. A filmed skit to present to the class. Must have costumes and props, depict a famous scene in one of the revolutions." She gritted her teeth, puffing out air though her nose and pouting in a way that Hiccup couldn't help but find adorable.

Which he instantly scolded himself for because, again, he hated her. And she hated him with a passion. He decided not to comment on the adorable pout, because he honestly had an interest on his existence continuing till tomorrow.

"Like I said, lots of work between us. So," he sighed, leaning back into his chair and wincing as the raw stump inside his pant leg rubbed against the prosthetic painfully. He readjusted it to be in a more comfortable position and groaned loudly as pain spiked through it.

"What's wrong with you, Useless," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. He fidgeted nervously, and reached to scratch his hair, before deciding against it. He could risk exposing his hearing aids for his bully to see.

"Me?" He questioned, folding his hands over his stomach and crossing his legs. "N-nothing. Just a little sore."

A blank look was his reward for that answer. "Really?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh."

"You?"

"Yep."

"Sore."

"Yeah," he said. "I'm sore. I'm very sore. I'm..." He puffed his cheeks out and blew air through his lips loudly. "The... Um, I'm the sorest." He looked at her hopefully.

"What did you do?" She ask. "Pull a hamstring playing video games."

"N-No," he said, still shaking his head. "I had a very, very, really extra hard physical therapy session last ni-" CRAP! He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't be having physical therapy. Normal two legged nerds do not have physical therapy.

Thankfully, she just rolled her eyes. He hated the way she rolled her eyes, as if she was so much better than he was. Like she was the few king Queen of the Gods or something equally haughty.

" you are such a liar. Why would you need physical therapy? God, your such a looser." She pinched the bridge of her nose, and he noticed something. He saw her eyes shift as the light caught in it.

"You wear contacts?" He blurted out, and her eyes shot open in surprise.

"What did you say, freak?!" She hissed and he stumbled backwards out of his chair I. Fear. OK, he was really, really stupid. She could snap his skeletal structure with a handshake if she wanted to. He was poking a bear here.

No wait, a bear? A BEAR?! She was a full blown fire breathing dragon with poisonous spikes, and he was poking her when she was already pissed off. Maybe he was still unconsciously pursuing suicide.

"Nothing!" He said a bit shrilly. "Nothing at all!"

She looked up at him through bloodshot eyes. Now that he was looking, he saw that the veins of red outlined the plastic lenses in her eyes. The sea blue behind them were looking like they were ready to drown him in his own blood.

"You-you-" the fire in her eyes was burning harder and more loathsome than ever before. "You little eel," she snarled. At least she was keeping the language clean this time. She glanced at Mr. Treacherous who was bordly reading the paper at his desk, not caring about his students.

She grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled him closer to her. "Tell anyone, you little undersized Fish-bone, and I will gut you," she raised her fist. "Got it?!"

"I got it," he winced, holding his hands in front of him. He really didn't feel like raging with her today. He wanted to go home. He wanted to play with Toothless and forget his problems and convince himself he was some semblance of OK.

Because he really wasn't. An adorable bully, gradual hearing loss, a leg that refused to leave him alone, and a challenging project was NOT helping matters at all.

He grimaced even harder as a new issue showed up: phantom limb.

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson was afraid.<p>

She stumbled out of her house in absolute terror. It was the dead of night, but she _needed_ to get out of there. She needed to go now! Everything in her hurt. Her knees felt like brittle sticks, and her legs were burning in agony. Her back was bruised up badly and her arm had a cut she did not recall getting.

But it was because of her dad. She stumbled out on unreliable limbs, fumbling her way towards her car. She needed to... Just be anywhere but here!

Oh, God. Oh, God she felt like throwing up. She probably was going to throw up. Her stomach was boiling like a witch's cauldron, and she felt bile rising in her throat.

Her breath came in ragged gasps.

Oh, God. Oh, God what did she even do this time? She had just come home and he had freaked out. He'd grabbed her and dragged her, kicking and screaming, into her version of hell.

Once he was... Once she had the chance, she had made a break for it before he had a chance to stop her.

Why?! Why, why, why, why?! Just freaking WHY?! She was a bully, yes, but this treatment had MADE her this way. She just didn't understand. When had she done to deserve this!?

She sat against the car seat, breathing heavily. A few more years, and see could leave. She could go without fear. Without complaint from the man who was ruining every aspect of her life. If she did anything now to try and escape him, he would find a way to come back and hurt her ten times as worse than before.

The man had taken everything from her. Kept her up sleepless nights with fear so much she had a burning headache very day from exhaustion, drove her to be vicious and cutthroat to where she couldn't be anything but angry and scared. She couldn't even remember the last time she smiled. She wasn't sure she remembered HOW to smile.

She held in a sob and fumbled for the keys, sticking them in the car as her father's gravely voice called out for her to stop. Demanding her to come back inside and take what she deserved.

She was a horrible person to Hiccup, but now in hell did she deserve what that man was doing to her?!

She _slammed_ her foot on the gas as hard as she could, tires squealing as she darted out the driveway. Something smashed into the back end of her vehicle, and she shuddered, the bile rising even more in her stomach.

She was going to her it for this later. But right now she literally couldn't be there. She would go away for as long as she could. She was the Damaged Astrid in the Strong Astrid's clothes.

She drove for what seemed like hours, getting off her street, out of her neighborhood, going five miles, ten miles, who-the-heck-knows-how-many miles, before she was finally out of gas.

She turned the vehicle into a gas station, a trembling hand reaching into her purse for her credit card. Not finding the willpower to stand though, she just sighed and rested against the cloth seat, her skin shiny and slick with swear from fear.

He had almost killed her this time, she was sure if it. He had been pressing down just hard enough on her throat, holding her down and-no! No, no no! She was not going to admit it.

It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare. That's all it was now. He was going to hurt her soon, yes, but not for another twenty four hours.

She forced the cramped up muscles in her thighs and arms to relax, and took deep, slow, calming breaths. She couldn't go home. She wouldn't go home. Not for now. She needed a place to hide out, a place to sleep. She fumbled for her phone, looking for somewhere to stay the night.

Heather? No, the raven haired girl was out of town with her family.

Ruff and Tuff? No, Hiccup had a measure if authority over the blond terrorists-to-be, for some inexplicable reason, but her orders went over their heads. Likely she'd end up in some stupid prank, and she wasn't in any state to tolerate them.

Snotlout. Enough said.

Camicazi? She might not leave with her car keys.

She scrolled down her contact list, further and further until she reached the one that the had added the previous day, when the boy she hated the most was making a fool of himself for no apparent reason.

No, no, nononono, no! Absolutely not!

She was not spending the night with Hiccup Haddock to get away from her father then she thought about it. Hiccup was manipulable. She could intimidate him into a place to stay the night, no questions asked or stories told, and she could but herself a few hours of peace.

With a sigh, she bitterly shook her head. She didn't really have a choice did she? No, no she really didn't. Everything south of her belly felt ether burning or acidic from the punishment, and she didn't want to even think about what he'd do once she got back. She couldn't spend the night in the car.

With a reluctant sigh, she pressed her thumb on the call button, bitter, stinging tears, trying to fight their way up to her face without her consent and singing tremendously. She wiped them away as the phone rang and rested her head against the headrest.

The phone buzzed on and on, as Astrid forced herself to calm down, her ribs were aching as air left her lungs, and filled them back in again.

Finally, the phone answered.

"Wha-what? Who is this? Hello? Whose dying?"

She felt the boiling in her gut skyrocket at the sound of his pleasing-aggravating voice. Why couldn't it be just one? Why couldn't it be so simpler. Why couldn't she just hate him like she wanted to?!

"No one." She answered. "But you will be if you tell any one about this."

* * *

><p>Hiccup Haddock was confused.<p>

He was in bed, during the dead of night. Toothless was on his bed, shedding his ink colored fur all over his master, enough to provide Hiccup with a new fur blanket.

The two had been snoring in peace, Hiccup's prosthetic beside the bed and hearing aids on the nightstand next to his cellphone, when-

_"MORTAL COMBAT!"_ The singer's voice screamed int his bedroom. The Thorstens had reset his ring-tone to that as a prank, but he hadn't figures it out yet. It until this moment anyway.

Toothless's shot open, and he sprang to his paws, barking like an aggressive chainsaw with a grudge. One of his enormous paws slammed into Hiccup's gut, waking and winding him in one go.

"GAH!" He yelled clutching his spleen as the old video game them played out from his cellphone beside him.

he sat straight up and shoved one aid in his warm bleary eyes and weary head trying to find the source of the disturbance. "Too-Toothless, what's wrong bud?" Then his groggy mind grasped that that music wasn't coming from in his head-he'd only started hearing it after he had put the hearing aid in.

He snatched up his phone. The caller ID was missed as he hurriedly slammed his thumb into the green 'accept call' icon on the screen and pressed it to his ear.

"Wha-what," he garbled out, half alert, half asleep. " hello? Whose dying?" He wasn't entirely sure why he added that last part, but OK. It fit his clownish behavioral patterns. Toothless jumped at the bed and whined at his charge, as if to ask, _why did your puny human device interrupt my sleep?!_

He waved the dog away with his hand. Soon, the voice on the other end spoke up. "No one. But you will be if top you tell anyone about this." Her voice as gravely and thick.

"A-Astrid?" He stuttered.

"U-Useless?" She mimicked cruelly.

He sighed and shook his head in annoyance readjusting the hearing aid in his war and scratching the top of his head. "Why are you calling?" He questioned, then yawned loudly. Toothless whined, as if saying that he wanted to go back to bed too.

The bully on the other end of the line went quiet. She seemed to be wrestling with herself, if the frustrated little grunts were anything to go by. Was it pathetic he thought frustrated Astrid was cute too?

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. Why did she have to even sound adorable? Why couldn't she be big and unlikeable, instead of having the face of a girl that could actually be kind if nice.

He shook his head and waited for an answer. He was patient for a really long time, even beginning to hum the Mortal Combat theme-Damn the twins they had gotten it stuck in his head now- until Astrid finally answered him in a choked voice, like she had when she offered him the cease fire.

"I-I need a place. To-to stay." She spat out at him. "I can't go home right now, and my other friends are not-I can't-I don't-"

While this was all very amusing to Hiccup, seeing the girl he detested (well, hearing, but you get the idea) reduced to stuttering an explanation. But it turned out to be kind if painful to listen to that. Honestly, he'd rather loose the other leg than listen to Astrid Hofferson be a stuttering wreck. It was like, a crime against the universe or something.

The sky was blue, Toothless was black, Berk was cold, and Astrid Hofferson didn't stutter. Those were some of the few absolute truths in Hiccup's life. And he shook his head. "Aaaaand, you want to stay here?"

Silence.

"What's in it for me?" He asked, just for kicks to see what kinda reaction he would get out of her.

"What's in it for you?!' She snarled angrily. "What's in it for you is that I don't make your life even more miserable after we hand in the project!"

Hiccup shook his head. He should have seen that coming. He really, really should have seen that coming. But like an idiot, he didn't and he rubbed his head again. "Fine, fine Astrid," he said, exasperated. He was braver to her over the phone because, unless she had some kind of freaky powers, she couldn't hurt him through telecommunication. At least, not physically. "You can spend the night here."

"OK," she sighed, sounding a smidgen less angry than before. "OK. You love in the big house in Chieftain Drive, right?"

"Yup."

"See you in a minuet."

"OK." She hung up, and it was a few minuets before Hiccup realized what he'd just agreed to, and, more importantly, with whom! When it did shock and horror filled him. "WAIT, WHAT?!" He screamed so loudly, Astrid might have even heard it.


	4. Panic and Conflicted

Panic and Conflicted

Hiccup Haddock was panicking.

All traces of sleepiness lost, he threw the covers-and Toothless-off of him. He frantically began to get out of bed-before falling flat on his face when he tried to put his non-existent left leg.

He cursed, mourning the fact he was currently suffering a bout of phantom limb. And fumbled for his prosthetic as fast as he could. He attached it and got to his feet stomping the fake leg a few times that to make sure it was soundly secured.

He fumbled for his left hearing aid stuck it in, turning the little device on. If Astrid Hofferson was coming here, he had stuff to hide. Lots and lots of stuff.

If she saw some if the things here... She would think him even weaker than before. He practically jetted out of the room, almost as fast as Toothless when he was freaking out. He was freaking out.

When he got to the stairs, he hesitated, biting his lip, before shaking his head and going forwards. He always had trouble with the stairs since the loss of his leg, but it didn't matter right now.

He tumbled down the stairs, getting a few new bruises in the process, and shook the pain off once he got to the bottom. He ran to the living room, and grabbed Toothless's bright red Service Dog vest.

Where, where, where, where could he put it that Astrid wouldn't see? For now, he just settled for stuffing the thing into the pocket of his flannel pants.

He found his prosthetic prescription on the counter, and snatched it up, shoving it in a drawer deep under a deep pile of paper. His leg was aching horribly from the fast movement, but he couldn't let _Astrid know_!

He gritted his teeth, and looked around to find anything that revealed his secrets.

There! His crutch, laying beside the door. He grabbed it, and glanced around frantically. In a moment of sheet and utter panic, he ran to the couch and slid it under. He bit his lip and shook his head, messing it up around the ears to hide the aids in them.

"OK, OK, I got the crutch, the prosthetic prescription, Toothless's vest..." He rolled his hands, rattling his brain for anything else, before he looked down. The foot of his leg was in clear broad daylight. The the thing was nowhere near the shape of a foot, so he couldn't simply put a sock over it.

He shook his head.

Gahhhhhh! Why did he agree to let her stay here?! He hates her! Despises her with all his being, even if she is strong and cute and adorable and brave, and stands up for what she wants and believes in!

And even though he couldn't really blame her for what she did. He was the anti-Astrid in every way. She was strong, he was pathetically weak. She was popular, he was a complete nobody.

Her body was healthy, fit, and worked _perfectly_. He was missing a leg and going deaf.

He shook his head. Secret keeping now, pity party later. All he could focus on was that his bully was spending the night with him for undisclosed reasons. And he hated the fact that he didn't actually mind that much.

He was too much if a nice guy, but there wasn't a lot he could do about that, was there?!

He crawled back up stairs, ascending on his hands and knees like a dog. No matter how in-dignifying it was it would be even more humiliating if Astrid saw him like this. He needed some amount of dignity, some amount of pride.

He couldn't let her see his leg, or his hearing aids.

He quickly undressed and pulled on his black Viking Skull t-shirt, and jeans, and a red jacket, before attaching the custom boot to his fake foot. There, perfectly hidden, except for his severe limp. He put the regular boot on his actual foot and nodded.

"Ok," he whispered to himself. "Ok, I'm hidden."

With that, he made his way back down to the first floor, swallowing the lump in his throat. He sucked in a breath.

Oh, man. Oh, man. This was hard. This was really hard. The girl he admired, liked and despised, coming in here. Spending who knows how long in the same house as him. Where was she gonna sleep?

Well, there was the guest bedroom.

It felt like he was going to throw up from the stress, and it spikes through his nerves harshly. He felt like pulling his hair out, or bursting into tears, when all he could do was tap his real foot on the ground impatiently as he wrung his hands, lacing his fingers together.

He hunched his back and laid Toothless's head on his lap, anxiously awaiting the loud ding that would signify the arrival of the girl he was so confused about. And the start of the worst night his life by far.

He watched the door, gnawing on his lip. He was panicking so hard. He just prayed as hard as he could that he could survive the night with little bruises, as much dignity, and both his secrets intact.

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson was conflicted.<p>

She really needed to calm down. After she filled her blue 1968 Camaro with gas, she pulled out of the gas station she'd called Hiccup at.

Wow... She was actually going to stay with the nerd she tortured every day. It was... Humbling to say the least. But she really didn't have anywhere else to go. And if she was honest, all the other places she considered... She might not even be welcome in those places.

She had been an aggressive witch to most of them since they began freshman year. They people who were once her friends... She hadn't been very nice the past year and a half to them.

_Who cares about nice?! _Her inner voice screamed._ I'm cutthroat, ruthless, strong! I have to be, or he'll just-_

NO! Never! Not. Going. To. Admit. It!

Why was asking her hated enemy for a place to say easier to admit the reason why she was so angry at the world, though. She shook a bit as she drove, clutching at the wheel tightly. She wasn't even sure why Hiccup was even doing this.

Of all the people she'd abused, he was the one who suffered most at her hands... Maybe he... She was over-thinking this. He probably thought if he refused she would come and beat the crap out of him. He was afraid of her.

Which was right. Hiccup Haddock should _fear _her, but he didn't as much as she would have liked. He back-talked her in occasional moments of bravery, he made her so, so angry that she wanted to beat some sense into him. He made her want to give up on being perfect, but that would lead to complete and utter agony from her father when she didn't come back with perfect scores, perfect record in wrestling and track, perfect marks, perfect collage recommendations...

Made her want to just be a _normal freaking person_ instead of a raging, bullying lunatic who didn't care about anyone else. And that was a bad thing in her eyes. A threat to the life she lived.

But at the same time, calm sounded really nice. She felt like a bird, trying to keep on flying, but slowly loosing the will to. She could either land and rest... Or keep on going till she finally and messily crashed.

And she felt like she was already on the downward decline to the crash.

Steadily, she found her way to Chieftain's Drive and found the address Hiccup had given her in case she ever needed to come for the project. The house was... Bigger than hers. Much bigger, but that wasn't saying a lot.

It wasn't some enormous, lavish mansion, or some grand looking home... It was just a house. Looked a little pricey, but not the kind of thing she'd pictured Hiccup living in.

She reached behind her and took the bad in the backseat. She had a bag of spare clothes, a toothbrush, and a weeks worth of contacts in there. She could survive out here until her dad's anger simmered down a bit.

Operational word: _a bit_.

She sighed and tugged the bag out the door with her. God, she must look like a mess. Her hair was barely braided, a long band-aid over her right bicep, no make-up on. Wow, this the lowest she's ever been seen by anyone other than her father.

And it was Hiccup the Useless who was seeing her this way. And she couldn't bring herself to hate the fact as much as she should. She grimaced. It-it hurt to walk. It hurt to move her legs. And she wanted to throw up so badly, as if it could expunge what had happened.

She hissed, but kept walking, stumbling up the driveway. There was only Hiccup's black Corvette Stingray in it. No sign of his parents' car. No sign of anyone except the nerd living here.

The lights were on when she got to the door, so she knocked. Her hated enemy's voice sounded from inside. "It-It's unlocked. Just come in."

She took a deep breath. Entering the place where she should be welcome least of all. Her hand grasped the handle, and pushed the ridiculously huge door open-

And screamed.

A huge black shape was barreling towards her at unbelievable speeds for its size. It was enormous and black and fuzzy and barking at the top of its lungs. She was frozen in shock until it rammed into her.

She tumbled backwards, onto the porch of the house, and landed with a dull thud. Shock waves reverberated through her body as the impact hit.

Looming above her was one of the scariest dogs she had ever seen. It's mangy black fur stuck up at all angles, and green eyes glinted in aggression as light whole from behind it, illuminating a halo. It's color made it seem like the _absence_ of light.

She gasped in fear, trying to scramble backwards, but it's paw slammed down onto her collarbone. It snarled and snapped and reared backwards, a deep, throaty growl in the back of its throat.

She stared up at the green eyes and open mouth. There were no fangs, just a row of sharp teeth, ready to rip and tear and bite and-

"_TOOTHLESS_!"

The stern, nasally voice caught both her and the dog's attention. It closed its mouth and licked its lips, whining an apology, before trotting away, back through the door. Astrid pushed herself up, clutching her racing her heart as the beast padded into the house.

Pane gasped for air, and looked at the small boy clutching the humongous dog's collar. She gaped at the pair.

"Th-that-THAT'S TOOTHLESS?!" She yelled. She knew Hiccup had a pet named Toothless, but she had always assumed it was, like a cat or something, not this unholy mixture of dog and bear!

"Yup. And... He knows about or... Relationship, so," he rubbed the back of his head. "Um, yeah." Toothless's back arched almost like a cats, and he glared at her from the top of his eyes. The beast was quite intimidating, she readily admitted that.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet, shaking slightly. She had been a bit sleepy before, but now she was wide awake. She tooth a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"W-wow," she gasped. "Nice... Nice dog, useless." The canine growled at the use of his nickname. Seriously, what kind if dog was that?! She looked at him and edged away a little.

"Yeah. Gift from Dad, a few years ago."

"Is... Is he OK, with me staying here?"

"Well, given that he's not gonna be here for a few months...," he looked at the floor, still holding Toothless's collar. "He doesn't even need to know."

She opened her mouth to ask why he was even allowed to stay in his home, but he beat her to the punch. "My dad's friend, Gobber, comes around every once and a while to check on me, but most of the time, it's just me, myself and my dog."

She tilted her head, shifting the weight of her bag on her shoulder and shifting a bit. She was a bit afraid to ask about his mother. Her burning headache had been throbbing, canceling out every single ounce of sympathy she could have felt for him.

She hissed in pain and clutched her head, dropping her bag next to the counter as she walked in. Her contacts were beginning to itch. She needed to take them out soon, but the world was a big old mess of blobs, blurs and colors without corrective lenses.

She looked around. It was a nice house, but... It was just a house. It wasn't lavish or grand, it didn't scream "home of the rich.'

Maybe he wasn't as wealthy as she had thought. But he still had more than she did, a better life than hers. He had no right to endanger her well being just for his stupid report card grade, even if he didn't know it! He... He...

She couldn't even make herself think it right now, so did she really think he deserved all the things she did to him? Gave him bruises, tossed him in the mud, humiliate him in front of countless people, countless times, saying all the mean, nasty things she could. She was even pretty sure she broke his arm one time. After all, he had disappeared a month ago...what else could he be doing but recovering from one of her attacks on him?

She shook her head. This was the sleep talking. She as Astrid Hofferson. She was never going to be Hiccup Haddock's friend or, no matter however much that little crush in the back of her read longed for it, his girlfriend. She was his bully, and she always would be!

"Can I ask why the bane of my existence is staying at my house?"

"No!" She snapped, turning to face him. "C-can I just go to bed. Where will I be sleeping?"

"Wow, your pushier than I remember," he muttered into his shirt, petting Toothless's back. He looked at her. "This is all a bit sudden, can you at least give me a hint as to why you want to spend any amount of time with me that doesn't involve the project or beating me up?"

She sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She suddenly felt very, very exposed. She didn't want to talk to this boy. She didn't want to tell him what had been done to her. That all the pain she caused him was a reflection of what her father did to her. She wanted to go to bed and sleep and leave before he woke up in the morning.

"Come on, I'm not a complete pushover. I'm not just gonna let you into my home without some kind of explanation."

She wanted him to be quiet. She wanted him to be silent. She wanted him to to peruse her problems. But she couldn't force her mouth to open and change the subject, or force herself to intimidate him.

"I mean, that's how serial killers make their living. People who are too trusting with their homes."

Yeah. But his voice... She liked it a lot, but it was wearing at her. She couldn't think. It was too nice a voice. She didn't want him talking, she didn't want his incessant babbling. She didn't want him around because she liked him and hated him at the same time.

"And also, Heather pretended to like me last year. She made me buy her a few things, then broke up with me. Spitefully in fact. Very spitefully. So, after being up used like that, I need to have, like, at least a reason for something. I mean, Heather just showed up and inexplicably liked me, used me, then dumped me. So if your-if your just playing some kind of angle-"

She remembered laughing when Heather told her about it, but also feeling a stirring if jealousy when she had said she had the guts to pretend to go out with Hiccup. She had somehow wished it was her, if only to have an excuse... But she hated him, she hated him so much. She shouldn't have been jealous... She didn't like Hiccup Haddock, and she wasn't sorry!

She's Astrid Hofferson, and she was not sorry!

"You can just leave now. I mean, don't punch me or anything. After all, Toothless doesn't like you already. But please, I don't need any more stuff. I've got a lot on my-"

Suddenly she couldn't take it anymore. All the things swirling around inside her suddenly charged out of her like a stampede of stallions.

She needed to scream and yell and cause pain. And her outlet was right in front of her.

She snapped and whirled to face him, her face contorted into a picture of fury. She advanced on him with surprising force, fists clenched and large blue eyes blazing like fire. He backed away, hands up, but she just went quicker and sized him by the shirt.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed in his face, lifting him off the ground a bit. "YOU THINK YOU HAVE PROBLEMS?! I HAVENT GOTTEN A GOOD NIGHT OF SLEEP SINCE I GOT INTO HIGH SCHOOL! I HAVE BECOME INCAPABLE OF FEELING ANYTHING BUT ANGER AND FEAR, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S LIKE?!" She shook him violently.

"IT MEANS THAT IM IN PAIN EVERY DAY! I HAVE TO TRY HARD AT EVERY THING I DO. AP ENGLISH, AP CHEMISTRY, HEALTH, AP GEOMETRY, NORSE CLASSES, AND YES, OUR STUPID AP WORLD HISTORY, AS WELL AS WRESTLING AND TRACK! BUT YOU, YOU LITTLE TWIT, YOU JUST NEED YOUR PETTY LITTLE VALEDICTORIAN TITLE! WELL I NEED THE GRADES MORE. ITS NOT JUST A MATTER OF PRIDE TO ME! ITS A MATTER OF FREAKING SURVIVAL!"

She raised her fist and he flinched quite violently. Suddenly something fell out of his ear. "What's that?" She said and looked at it.

Hiccup looked at her in absolute horror. On the ground was a small, bright red hearing aid laying on the ground. She slowly released Hiccup's shirt and bent to pick it up. He was too frozen in fear to stop her as she picked the thing up between her index finger and thumb.

"Why do you have a hearing aid?" She asked Hiccup, and his puppy like green eyes looked at her, pupils dilated in absolute _terror_.


	5. Guilt and Anger

Guilt and Anger

Astrid Hofferson was guilty.

Actually, Astrid Hofferson was guilty of a lot of things. The blond hothead was the first to admit she was no saint, but she didn't like the idea of being the person who picked on and bullied a handicap. It made her... Feel exactly like her father. But she would never do what he had done to her that night. Well, she was sure it wasn't physically possible for her to do that, but she wouldn't do it even if she could.

But she felt like him... Picking on someone who was helpless to fight back. She never thought of Hiccup as 'helpless', he was short and thin, and he never struggled, but he always got right back up, dusted himself off and continued on as if nothing else had happened.

That was probably one of the things she liked about him.

But now... Looking at the small little device in her hand, a proof of an actual, viable, certifiable _weakness_, something that couldn't be solved with some weights and a bit of conviction in the gym...

She stared at it in horror.

Hiccup was hard of hearing. That shouldn't matter... But somehow it did. It meant the kid she bullied wasn't completely spoiled and rich. He drove a Stingray to school, he looked at everyone as if they had no business talking to him.

She always assumed he was so stuck up, that was one of the things she had hated about him. She was already wrong about him. He might have avoided talking to people because it was hard to hear them.

She held out the hearing aid and he looked from her to it, green eyes wide and fearful. He was... Afraid of her.

She was terrified of her father.

He was terrified of her.

Hofferson like Hofferson.

Father like Daughter.

She swallowed hard again and nodded at the little red hearing aid urging him to take it. It was like a hot fire in her palm. A sign of weakness she had forcibly ripped away the covering to.

He scrambled for it, flinching as he touched her hand, and put the hearing aid back in. He coughed into his fist and rubbed the back of his hair. She took a look at his other ear. Sure enough, she saw a flash of red in his other ear.

"S-s-s," she stuttered. She wanted to say sorry, but she _wasn't_. She really, really _wasn't_. She still felt like she was lying to herself though. "So, hearing problems useless?" She ended up saying.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah... I'm, um, I have degenerative auditory senses, or-or something. My... My hearing gets worse over time." She looked at him. Hard of hearing was one thing... But going deaf? Now she really felt like a jerk.

She never felt like a jerk before. She knew she was a jerk, but she never felt like it. She had always had a little voice in her head telling her Hiccup deserved it. But this scrawny little boy going deaf before his time didn't deserve a bully... Did he?

"That... Sucks?" She said, more like a question. She honestly didn't know how that would feel. She loved listening to music, and she liked... Conversations. To not be able to hear anything at all? That sounded indescribably horrible.

"You bet." He nodded. "I only got a few months before," he threw up his hands. "Silence."

"I... Um I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. You hate me, right? And I-I hate you too. I despise you. A lot."" He muttered. He was starting to ramble. "I mean, why wouldn't I hate you?" He wasn't looking at her when she asked that. He seemed more like he was asking himself. "You... Your my bully! You hate me for no specific reason, right? I mean, do you not actually hate me? Do you just... Do you just like having a punching bag that flinches and shows pain?!"

"You could have fought back," she whispered, and he scowled.

"Yeah right. Look at these!" He dangled his noodly arms in front of her. She looked at them. Twiggy, and a bit disproportional. "I couldn't put up a decent fight against a rat! If Toothless ever got tired of my continued existence, it would be bye-bye Useless!"

He was snarling now. "So, no Astrid, I couldn't have fought back. All I could do was get up and bear it, try to hide everything I felt about you... Except for the hate!" He rounded on her.

Hate wasn't the only thing he felt towards her? She had plenty of others for him too. Jealously, confusion, frustration... Affection, if unwillingly.

"I mean," he continued, almost laughing angrily now. The loss of his secret had clearly unhinged him. He was emotionally biting at her, trying to scare her away with his words rather than physical ability.

That was the only thing he ever had on her, she realized. The ability to fight back with words, not muscle. Oh... God she was such a horrible person! "It's not like I have a lot of opportunities to show anything else. You kick me in the mud for crying out loud! I'm already all weak and girly, do I really need a girl- don't give me that look, it's purely your anatomy-" he snapped as she glared weakly. "Beating me down!"

Astrid felt sick to her stomach. The night was officially overwhelming the poor girl. She was coming around to the fact that she was an ass, that she was bullying someone who didn't deserve it at all, that Hiccup was going deaf. That Hiccup had grown a spine beyond wise-ass remarks.

She had tortured a handicap every single day. Now if that wasn't enough to make her feel despicable, nothing would.

That, and what her father had done. He had r-

Bile started to rise in her throat, and regret in her chest. She shook her head and tried to swallow them both. She wasn't going to throw up, or start apologizing in some tears mess typical of those with her hair color. She. Would. Not.

She wasn't sorry.

She wasn't sorry.

She wasn't sorry.

She wasn't sorry.

She WASN'T SORRY!

Hiccup looked at her, then back at the ground and sighed bitterly. "But now you know that by the time we turn in our project, the teacher's gonna have to give me my assignments with instructions written down. And if I disappear after school some days, it's probably because I'm learning ASL!"

He grimaced and shook his head, slapping his hand down on the dinging room table. "I put a key in a bedroom door for you. You'll find it if you look!" He growled, and turned on his heel.

And his leg _squeaked_ loudly as he did. He flinched visibly and clenched his fists, a scream of frustration welling out of his throat. The little grunts he made as he tried to keep it down were heartbreaking to hear.

But she had a different problems. Her guilt and memories that were mere hours old were coming back with a vengeance. Her father, throwing her onto his too hard bed. Her screams and pleas for her to stop.

Had she ever made Hiccup beg for mercy like that? And had she ever given it? To be honest, most of her interactions with him we're angry hazes, slight sounds and sensations the only things she really remembered.

She sighed, and shook her head. "How long can I stay?"

He released his fists and twisted a bit to look at her. His eyes were welling with tears of anger. "How long do you need?"

"A while." She said. She shouldn't press her luck. She'd practically _stabbed_ what was probably a _very_ sore nerve, with his hearing. He was somehow generous enough to let her stay in his home after she tormented him day after day.

"As long as you need. Like I said. It's you," he glanced spitefully at her. "But it's conversational company. So, see you in the morning." He whistled shortly for Toothless to follow, and the onyx canine did, padding loyally behind his master.

She watched them go soberly, and picked her bag back up. "See you in the morning Hiccup." She whispered, and turned around, beginning to look for the room Hiccup had provided.

* * *

><p>Hiccup Haddock was angry.<p>

He stomped to his room, which he immediately regretted as pain and agony shot up his stump like a myriad of bee stings. He trudged to his bed and ripped off his prosthetic, casting it on the ground.

He shivered and rubbed the sore amputation, groaning as he ran his fingers comfortingly over the flesh where bone and muscle should continue. He still felt it.

The tire _crushing_ his limb like a fortune cookie, snapping the bone and squishing the muscle tissue. The thing backing up as he screamed and cried in pain. Wanting to back out, but being forced to stay painfully awake.

He took out both hearing aids and cast them on his night stand, reclining back on his messy bed with a now-noiseless sigh.

"Why," he moaned, though he could no longer here it. "A year and a half of bullying, Bud, and all I can say, is WHY?!" He grabbed his hair and groaned loudly. A big mass of black fur jumped back onto the bed.

Toothless whined (probably) and laid his head down on Hiccup's stomach, wagging his red-tipped tail hopefully. His owner reached his hand up and scratched his dog behind the ear, causing said tail to speed up.

"Seriously Bud. Why?" He said. "I mean, the first day I saw her, she actually looked nice and sweet and, to be perfectly cute! But then it's all slamming me into lockers and humiliating me in front of the school!"

The black dog licked his hand sympathetically.

"I know. But she seemed so... Lost tonight Bud. Like she didn't know where to go. Like she had no one else to turn to. And... I saw myself a bit. I listened to her... And I heard myself. I heard someone lost and alone and desperate for someone to help her, even if she was still acting strong. And-" he released his hair and let his arms flop at his sides. "And how was I supposed to say no to that, eh?"

Green eyes looked at him in kindness.

Suddenly the dog was back on his paws and pounced on the one legged, hearing-impaired boy with gusto, dragging his tongue across anything he could get at, licking over and over and over, while Hiccup laughed and protested.

"N-no! Na-Stop it, Toothless! Oh, gah, no!" He spluttered and pushed the canine off of him. "Toothless, you are _so lucky _that washes out!"

The dog settled back on top of him, curling gently against his boy's side. He whined, this time the noise reverberating against the young Haddock's chest.

He rested his hands atop the dog's head and back.

"Good boy, Bud. Good dog."

The boy and the dog stayed like that for most of the night, Toothless's tail resting gently on the boy's stump, head under his arm. And Hiccup briefly forgot about the painful presence of the blond bully in his home.

* * *

><p>Astrid Hofferson was rested.<p>

The night in the guest bedroom was ironically one of the best sleeps she'd gotten in a long time, even though it was one of the worst nights of her life.

She was also lucky it was a Saturday, as her rest lasted till nearly one in the afternoon. She opened her eyes, the world a mass of shapes and colors. She blinked a bit, and peered at the clock, groaning when she saw the time.

She laid her head down against the pillow and sighed.

She was in Hiccup Haddock's house.

She was in _Hiccup. Haddock's. House_.

And she was not in her own. She could... She wasn't under the threat of the loud yelling and harshness of her father's presence. She drew the covers up to her chin and snuggled back under them, reveling in the warmth.

For the first time in a long, long time, she didn't feel exhausted. Her burning headache was gone. Things felt... Clearer than they had been for a long time.

Clearer than they had been since she tuned eleven.

She wasn't fully rested... But she felt so much better than she had last night. Better than she had when she started bullying Hiccup.

Oh, God, Hiccup. Going deaf Hiccup. The boy she had tormented. The boy she had... Had bullied. When she was a kid, she never imagined she would become bully. She didn't think it would be to the boy she liked.

Rolling in the covers, she sighed. "I'm sorry." She whispered "I. Am. Sorry." She repeated. "I have to tell him that at least. I'm not going to melt in a messy wet pile of sissy. But... He didn't deserve what I've been doing to him. And I'm... I'm not gonna do it anymore. I'm really not."

And she meant it. After she woke up, with no burning headache and a sense of safety, she tired to picture going back to the old routine. But his pained, panicked expressions could no longer be conceived as good things.

She was NOT his friend... But she was really tired of picking on him, and she was kind of sorry for doing it. Enough to admit it. She wanted... She wanted to at least thank him for letting her stay here.

She finally managed to drag herself away from the amazingly comfortable bed and get dressed. She fumbled through her bag, but cursed as she discovered her meager number if contacts.

With a pained expression, she looked between the packet of plastic lenses, and her large glasses.

Wearing the glasses on the weekends would maximize her number of school days with the contacts and her time away from home. Reluctantly, she shoved the glasses onto her face with a sigh as they filled her vision.

She tied her hair back in a pony tail and exited the room, finding her host on the couch with his dog next to him, lazily playing a game on the X box. When he saw her, he nearly jumped off the couch.

"Woa," he said, taken aback. "Good afternoon, Sleepyhead. And might I say, looking a bit... Glassy eyed today."

She gave him a deadpan glare. "I think I'd rather saw off a limb than listen to that pun again. No offense." She said, and rubbed her head. It felt so good to be well rested. So very, very good.

He rolled his eyes and paused the game, sitting up. "So, took you a while to get up. But then again, in your little rant last night, you said you didn't get any good sleep last night. And something about not being able to feel anything but fear or anger. And what could possibly scare you? Anything short of apocalyptic, I mean, because who wouldn't that scare the crap out of?"

"None of your business Use... Hiccup," she said.

She walked around the couch and plopped down. She folded her hands on her lap and looked at him, lips pressed into a thin line.

What she was about to do, hurt her. In her soul. But she had to do this, or else she would never feel right about anything ever again. She didn't feel right about this. She didn't ever feel right about that.

"Hey, you used my name!" He exclaimed happily. She liked his smile. A lot. And during this break from her father, she could readily admit it. Right now, she didn't need to be perfect, or the best, or to fear her father.

Right now, she was free. For at least a week, she was free.

"This probably doesn't mean much... But I'm sorry. For-for everything. And I know, your not going to forgive me, but I just wanted to say it. And thanks for letting me stay here. Things were getting to... Intense for me at home."

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sound of her pleas ringing in her ears. She gritted her teeth. "I'm sorry, for bullying you, for making you miserable, for humiliating you. I don't want to be your friend or anything, but I do kinda want to work towards at least peace between us."

She looked at him. "If you have any more secrets, you can keep them. I have plenty to hold myself."

He stared at her in shock, then shook his head, blinking. "Wow." He shook his head. "Just... Wow. I mean, that... Kinda came out of nowhere. I mean, last night you kinda, um, went of like a tactical nuke in my face, and now your apologizing for a year and a half of bullying. Can anyone say 'random?'"

"Random." he answered cheekily, and he chuckled. She looked at him from the top of her glasses and sighed. "You don't forgive me do you?"

"I'll admit, a little hard to let that much water go under the bridge. But... I'm not a big holder of grudges. I hate you, but... I'm willing to not hate you." He bit his lip and looked down to pet Toothless. "I'm not willing to forgive you yet... But I'm willing to go to that point if your being honest here."

"I am," she answered. "I've started taking a look at myself recently, and I don't like what I've become. I don't like being... Your bully. And I'm sorry for all that I've done to you. I still hate you... But I feel like its for the wrong reasons."

"Yeah?"

"So I say, we work on the project, and work on making peace at the same time. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Hiccup nodded, and hoisted his large dog on top of the couch, rubbing him. "But... Can I ask why you suddenly want to do this?"

She tapped her hands against the couch as she thought of a way to answer. "I... Got hurt. I didn't like it. One of the reasons I had to leave home last night. So, I decided that after reaping what I sew, I have severely lost my taste for making people like you suffer."

"People like me?"

"Weaklings."

"Ah."

And so the conversation went. If you asked Hiccup it was one of the most awkward and unsure conversations of his life, one of those that you just want to find an excuse to end quickly.

But for Astrid, it was one of the easiest conversations she had in a very long time. And one of the most calming. And for the first time, she forgot about any looming threat of her father while doing it.

Astrid felt _safe_.


	6. Message

Message from new author:

The previous five chapters are from Rumbling Night Cutter, all the upcoming chapters are my actual works, I will strive to be consitent with Rumbling Night Cutter's style, but I am a different writer. Thank you all for your support

Foxmorgorth


	7. Surpise, Frustration and Confusion

Author's Note: This is my first chapter as the new author of The Feeling's Mutual, I hope I haven't deviated too far from Rumbling Night Cutter...

Surprise, Frustration and Confusion

Hiccup was surprised how much work he and Astrid were able to get done on their project that day after that awkward conversation, it was like 4PM, it was the noncooperation movement other nonviolent civil disobedience movements lead by Mahatma Gandhi, the scene they would skit was the release of Mahatma Gandhi after his arrest in 1922. It was something Hiccup knew about and after mentioning it and he commented that it would be a great way to throw a monkey wrench into the clearly violent personal of Mr. Treacherous, the poetic 'f... you' both wanted to say to their least favorite teacher. Astrid was sold on the idea messing with the teacher, and knowing that everyone else would do something violent and try to skit a pivotal battle. The idea was also appealing because of its simplicity, there weren't so many props and most of the props were already in the school's drama club.

"Okay, we got our revolution and our scene for the skit, now for props and such." Hiccup said, the two were at the table and had gone thorough a wide away of options until they reached the for-mentioned agreement to use Gandhi's 'revolution'. Hiccup didn't know why but Astrid looked... no this crush is stupid, so stupid, So. Very. Stupid. You look nice with glasses. He thought to himself concerning Astrid and her glasses.

"Excuse me?" Astrid said, Hiccup realized too late he thought out loud.

"Um... ah... nothing... not a thing, Not. A. Thing." Hiccup tried to hide what he said, giving one of his weak toothy smiles.

"You think I look good as a nerd." Astrid jabbed, her checks red with annoyance, the two may have agreed to try to work towards peace between the two but old habits die hard.

"I didn't say that." Hiccup said with a false blaster.

Astrid rolled her eyes as she rocked her head back unamused with Hiccup. "Whatev." and Astrid turned to her the notebook she had, and doted down a few notes that were in their textbooks on India from 1920 to 1947, her focus on the references, hopefully the school library will have those books. Hiccup returned to his laptop in shame, he too was looking for source material, and while he would have go through his results with a fine tooth comb, he got a lot of good material a lot faster.

* * *

><p>"You look nice with glasses." she heard him say.<p>

"Excuse me?" Astrid asked, she had spent so much time trying to hide that she needed these things that she never thought anyone would complement her, let alone Hiccup.

"Um...ah... nothing... not a thing. Not. ," Hiccup was trying to hide what he said, clearly he didn't think he was speaking.

"You think I look good as a nerd." Astrid jabbed, old habits die hard, but mostly she wanted Hiccup to step-up.

"I didn't say that." Hiccup was trying to be more than what he was.

"Whatev" Astrid replied and turned back to her notebook, she notice Hiccup hid his face in a sorta shame over stepping down, Astrid couldn't help but blush, it was short-lived, Astrid was no 'girly-girl', blushing at a dork's complement. After a while of silence. "You know, nerd was never intended as an insult." Astrid had no idea where that came from, maybe it was part of her attempt to make peace.

"What?" Hiccup asked

"Dr. Seuss' A Nerd at the Zoo, in it the 'Nerd' is a creature that was trying to become part of the zoo animal population." Astrid informed, how did she remember that, oh it was one of the few books her father read to her before her mother left.

"Sorry, I guess I am not familiar with all his books, I guess I only know The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton hears a Who. So what brought that up, the whole 'nerd' thing?" Hiccup asked, his eyes squinting in confusion.

Astrid had no answer at first. "I really don't know. I think it was kind of like the "You look good in glasses" thing, at least I owned up to it. So any results on the search?"

"I found a couple of biographies on Mahatma Gandhi, and a few articles on the Noncooperation movement with a couple of other first hand accounts, I'll print them out and maybe we can start writing the paper Monday. So what would you like for diner, take out or something in the fridge?" Hiccup asked a slight panic on his face and in his voice, he was not use to having guest... well not true Fishlegs and he would do gaming sessions every so often... but that was nothing like this.

"We'll raid the fridge first. So... what does your dad do?" Astrid was trying to find something to talk about, at first her face revealed her nervousness but with Hiccup looking in the refrigerator for what to raid, she had time to be gain her pose. She was sure not why that topic but she went with it.

"While he owns Haddock Industry, he spends most of his time as the school district superintendent. Its easier for him to handle schools than his son. So what about your folks?" Hiccup asked, he was clearly taken a back by the sudden interest in his father, s

There was a brief moment of shock and terror for Astrid. "My dad's … in between jobs right now, my mom is... gone." She was not ready for this topic, her face however remained stoic. "Anyway, so what games do you play, on the X-box?"

Astrid could see the frustration on Hiccup's face for the rapid change in topics but he went along. "Recently its been a Halo 3 PVP binge, I has decent kill ratio if I may say so, you?"

"Mostly those free puzzle games on my phone, its all we can afford." yeah this topic was not much better,

"You want to play, how about we start with a co-op the story mode of original Halo, so you can get familiar with the mechanics." Hiccup suggested. Astrid glared at Hiccup. Was this talking fish-bone underestimating her?

* * *

><p>Hiccup fell on his bed face first, he garbed his pillow and used to muffle a scream. His kill ratio, his record, his immortality, well in game, were … powned... and by a nearly legally blind noob... okay newbie... fine a surprisingly talented novice... but still. Actual that was a little... okay a very very very dramatic overstatement, but it took him weeks, months to get the skills he has and Astrid sniped his $$, okay it was a head shot but still, their first Vs. against each other after only a few hours of playing through the story mode and two man team play, no-one have every gotten close to even kill "Nóttmóðr" (Night Fury) his character even when he started... okay Fishlegs got close that one time but that was a trap Hiccup set-up for Fishlegs' character and it paid off. In the end one more reason he hated Astrid... okay he had to hate himself too; he was damn too good a teacher, but still. He was however thankful that the game that lead to his current aghast was not online and would not affect his record, but it didn't reduce his anger that much. When he look up he was looking right it Toothless' face.<p>

The mutt was clearly confused, Hiccup noted, the dog witnessed all the effort and time Hiccup put into teaching Astrid and after passing what the dog understood to be the final exam shouldn't the teacher be happier. Another thing also confused the dog, Hiccup assumed correctly, if Hiccup wanted to keep his record why did he teach Astrid so well. "I am messed up, Bud. I have a crush on my bully. That's why." Hiccup informed the big black dog. Toothless just rolled his eyes as if he viewed the whole thing was stupidly made more complicated than it needs to be... which it was, Hiccup had to admit... well only to himself, he was not in the mode to give the dog the satisfaction of being right... well not at the moment.

"Hiccup, you okay?" came Astrid's voice, she was concern. Hiccup had to admit that Astrid didn't rub her victories in the face of her opponents, not that she hid her smug grin after besting anyone whom thought she was an easy victory, and it was one more reason he has this crush on her, but he doesn't like being on the receiving end of it, especially right now. She was in the door way with concern, real concern, on her face.

"Just fine. You did... well, Stormfly Deadly-Nadder." Hiccup said clearly not fine but he was calm as turned to lie on his back. He used her character's name... Deadly-Nadder... that should be... No Hiccup focus, he thought to himself hiding his face with his left arm. "Fishlegs must never know about that game. We maybe... friends... but if he finds out..." Hiccup couldn't finish the sentence, not that it was bad thing but he honestly didn't know how to finish it, he was pointing to Astrid with his right-arm, the gesture was clearly his attempt to at least show some dominance, this is his home and Astrid was a guest.

"Alright, as long as you take what you know to the grave. I am going to bed. Good-night." Astrid said, she was surprisingly mellow.

"Good-night." Hiccup replied still a little angry over his defeat, but he was starting to let it go. Astrid left the room, Toothless gave a whimper. The poor dog was so confused by the humans behaviors today, both Hiccup's and Astrid's. "We humans have an act to make things harder than they need to be." Hiccup informed the dog removing his arm still looking at the ceiling. Toothless only shook his head at Hiccup, clearly the answer was not good enough but it looked like he was not going to be a better one from Hiccup tonight.

* * *

><p>Toothless knew he was surprising intelligent for a domestic dog, probably smarter than the average wolf, but his human charge was one baffling after another; first was the day Hiccup lost his lower left leg. If Toothless was anything other than he was he would be blaming himself for not pulling Hiccup along in the walk when Hiccup stopped, but Toothless was what he was and he knew Hiccup has only himself to blame for what happened... well the driver of the car was technically the one at fault do to the human's pedestrians have the right of way law thing... but still Hiccup shouldn't have stopped... Second was why Hiccup both hated and had a crush on Astrid, Toothless could understand the hate, Astrid was a near continuous threat to Hiccup's life, and Toothless could understand the crush... okay only in part; Hiccup was going through that stage of human development and Astrid seemed to be a suitable mate for any male human, but both... Third was Hiccup recent allowing of Astrid into their home, by 'their' Toothless was referring to Hiccup, himself and MountainMan (Stoick), out of the blue, the forth and most recent was Hiccup teaching this 'vid-di-o ga-aim' 'Hay-low' to Astrid and his anger over Astrid betting him... all these contradictions Toothless would be surprised that humans have survived as a species for as long as they had if it were not for the fact that they know how to cook pieces of cow so well. Cow...what was the cut called... 'Stake'... yum... maybe there is... Focus Toothless... You have to do something. The dog thought to himself as he exited the room. Normally he would sleep in the same room as Hiccup... okay on with Hiccup on the bed, but tonight he figured he would better serve his human by sleeping-out side. Thankfully MountainMan made Hiccup's bedroom door-knob something Toothless could use to open the door after Toothless was brought into the home. Toothless moved the dog-bed that he sleeps inon when he was not sleeping with Hiccup and to half-way between Hiccup's room and the room Astrid was staying in. But before he went to sleep he went back into Hiccup's room.

Hiccup was sprawled out on his bed and his red 'fake ears' were on his nightstand. Clearly the human was not planning to hear anything until he got up. Toothless didn't like that. While their conversations were silent on Toothless' end... 99 out of 100 times, shouldn't Hiccup be getting as much out of his ears as he possibly can, maybe learn from his lack of use of his left leg. Toothless knew that if he was losing something he would get as much out of it as he could, like if he (Toothless) was told that his tail was going to fall off in three days, Toothless would wag and chase his tail until he couldn't, he was a little tempted to do that right now. Another reason Toothless hated when Hiccup took out his 'fake ears' was that if Toothless needed Hiccup to hear, Toothless would have to lick Hiccup's ear. Toothless didn't mind the licking, he liked licking Hiccup it was how Toothless showed his love to his human charge and as much as Hiccup said otherwise all his actions said he enjoyed being licked, but Hiccup would always whine, when Toothless liked his ears, "You're lucky that washes out." or something to that affect. Toothless was only doing his job, only giving what he, MountainMan and Hiccup agreed to be the sign from Toothless that Hiccup needs to put his 'fake ears' back in if Hiccup was asleep when Toothless needed to make sure Hiccup could hear (how Toothless was trained by Hiccup and Stoick) and Hiccup was always moaning about it. Well maybe tonight, like most nights, there would be no need to lick Hiccup's ear.

Author's note: I took the liberty to change the project slightly, when I took AP history classes, my project assignment was to focus on one particular thing.

The A Nerd at the Zoo reference comes from the second season of the H2 show America's Secret Slang, and I think I read the actual book once a long time ago.

There will be more of Toothless in the upcoming chapters, and maybe some of a few other characters...

Please Read and Review, critics are welcome

Foxmorgorth


	8. Revive and Confidence

Revive and Confidence

Astrid felt revived.

It was Sunday 10am when she woke up and it felt like her life had reset. She started her morning by stretching her arms and back while still one her back, her eyes still closed and a big smile on her face, she was surprised that she knew how, and thankful. After the stretch she opened her eyes, her smile still on her face. This has been the longest continuous smile she has ever had since, well she couldn't remember the last time she smiled so long. She got out of bed and went for her contacts. When she counted them and saw her bag she remembered she was still in Hiccup's house.

She put one her glasses and put on a fresh shirt, still wearing the bottoms she wore Saturday. She exited the room and saw the sleeping big black mass that was Toothless. She was afraid at first, maybe Toothless would maul her if she woke him up, but she bent-down and reached her hand out (curiosity had killed the cat). "Good morning, big guy." Astrid whispered. Toothless' eyes shot open as Astrid started to pet him, he looked like he was going to growl and bite at her, but then his eyes actually met hers and the big wolf, okay he wasn't actually a wolf but he might as well be, ended his aggression and got up and started licking Astrid, first her hand and then her face. It wasn't playful or mean, it was like he was trying to clean out a wound. (Satisfaction brought it back). She then pulled Toothless into an embrace. "Aren't you the sweetest, your just an over-grown puppy aren't you." She whispered into Toothless' neck. "I don't think Hiccup should know about this, he already hates me there no reason for him to hate you." She continued and kissed the left side of the mutt's face.

Toothless turned to look at her in the face. "You're a good boy. Yes you are." Astrid said in the high pitch cutesy way people are know to say 'who's a good boy/girl, who's a good/girl, yes you are, yes you are' to dogs as her smile returned as she rubbed and pet the huge beast. She could feel the happy puppy's panting. Hiccup must not tell Toothless that's a good boy as often as he should, Astrid thought to herself. "I am going make breakfast, could you wake up Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she let go of Toothless.

Toothless nodded and trotted to Hiccup's room and was going to open the door himself, but Astrid opened it for him. She kept her right index finger in front of her mouth, as people do to gesture to others to be quite either for a short while or on a particular thing and closed her right eye. Toothless seemed to get the message that Astrid wanted to have Hiccup surprised. Astrid then strolled into the kitchen. She decided to make some scrambled eggs, there were plenty of eggs, some pieces of ham, some milk and some graded cheese. She also took out two oranges and some more milk to drink. She was surprise by how easy it was for her to find everything she needed, like Hiccup had to keep things in a way for when someone with her mind-set would come to this house, that's when she noticed the picture, Hiccup must have been 4 or 5 at most and he was happy, smiling with his mouth open and he was on the shoulders of a mountain of a man, the man hand a big, braided red beard, kept his hair knotted in the back, she knew of the man, "STOICK THE VAST IS YOUR FATHER!" Astrid shouted at the tops of her lungs as she turned to face Hiccup's room.

"Ouch. I am losing my hearing by itself, shouting like that is not helping." Hiccup deadpanned as he arrived into the kitchen, he was using his crutches. "I told you last night my father owns Haddock Industry and he's the district superintendent, who else fits that bill?" Hiccup asked, Astrid knew it was rhetorical and elected to not answer, giving the sardonic prick an amused scowl. Behind Hiccup Toothless was barking at Hiccup telling him to move. It was not until then that Astrid finally realized that Hiccup was not only going deaf but his left leg was gone, well just below the knew joint, but still half of Hiccup's leg was gone. Astrid didn't need a mirror or anyone to tell her that her face was pale and her eyes dilated in horror and her mouth slightly agape.

Hiccup followed her gaze to his leg, first panic came across his face as the blood left it, but the panic subsided, he had already panicked due to the finding out of his enviable deafness Friday night, he was already the weakling here might as well go all the way, his pitch started out akin to the anexity of Friday night "Yeah, I am so useless that I lost my leg. Interesting story, you see, I was taking Toothless out for a walk, just at the beginning of summer and I see this blonde divine beauty jogging, training for track, and this beauty has been a b... well I really shouldn't call her that because to do so would insult female dogs, but you get the idea. So I turn off my hearing aids because I didn't want to hear" As Hiccup continued the fear and anxiety of being found out concerning his lacking limb vanished; it was somewhat therapeutic to state what happened, to admit it not only to someone else but to himself, "for a while and I took a minute to throw daggers through my eyes at her and then Toothless starts pulling hard at me and before I could register I was pinned, I had fallen and hit my head, my lower left leg was crushed, and was under the rear tire of a car, there was a crash, obviously and they had to amputate right there. Here's the kicker they had no means to sedate me. I was going critical due to the stress of the crushed leg and the amputation in process on my heart and blood-loss from the destroyed veins and arteries from the crushing of my leg and the amputation and I didn't paused out until the amputation was complete." Hiccup said as he moved to one of the two seats at the table and sat down, there was slight smile on his face as if a weight had been lifted from him.

Astrid was able to regain her composer after a few seconds, just in time to return to the breakfast she was making. She knew whom Hiccup was referring to as the 'divine beauty', herself. She remembered that day, not so much what happened to Hiccup, she was a least a block or two away, but she remembered people talking about someone getting ran-over. However like most people, she failed to connect the disappearance of Hiccup over the summer to the crash. "I am so.." she started, she was thankful to be facing away from Hiccup, she was not going to cry in front of him.

"I have only my self to blame, Astrid." cut her off, dejectedly. He too was thankful to face away from her, he had not told her everything and he was starting to feel like he should. He was so confused and frustrated. "I know that story was not what you expected to hear first thing on a Sunday. Thanks for hearing it." Hiccup turning to Astrid, remorse for his misplaced wrath on his face, his eyes down, a weak smile on his face.

"It's okay. I made some scrambled eggs, with ham and cheese. We also have oranges and milk, for breakfast." Astrid said looking over her shoulder to Hiccup, she had a slight look of pity towards someone, the sadden eyes, the paleness from loss of cheer, etc. She gave a slightly stronger smile to lighten the mood.

"Thanks. I hope it's good." Hiccup said challengingly, he gave a partial smile, much like the one he gave when he challenged Astrid to the Vs.

"Prepare to be sniped in the taste buds, noob." Astrid smirked, her pupils constricting as she focused on finishing the meal as she accepted Hiccup's challenge.

"2 for 2, Hofferson." Hiccup said as he leaned back into the chair after eating the breakfast Astrid made, he was much happier to have lost this time a smile on his face. Astrid stretched out both her arms and made a 'V' with the index and middle fingers on both hands, her eyes closed and a big toothy smile on her face. "Seriously, you're going Nixon." Hiccup chided playfully as he leaned forward seating in the chair properly. Astrid only lowered her arms and shut her lips as she continued to smile with her eyes closed.

Woof. Toothless 'said', the big guy was happy at the scene as his tongue hanging out as he panted indicated. He got a slight scowl from Hiccup as if Hiccup was calling the Toothless a traitor. Toothless just snorted at the scowl Hiccup sent. Hiccup dipped his head in defeat. Astrid's eyes were still closed and her smile still on her face.

"Anyway, you are a great chef." Hiccup said as he regained his composer and started stacking the plates and the forks used so that they could be brought over to the sink in one go.

Astrid snapped out of her smile, her eyes opening and her smile lessening. "As long as Gobber doesn't find out, I'll cook for you as much as I can this week, if he finds out you're last meal will be the means I kill you." She said taking the dishes into the kitchen to clean them off and was about to get the sink ready to wash all the dishes, including the glasses they drank from and the skillet she used. Her threat while said cheerfully, Hiccup felt that she meant it.

"We have a built in dishwasher, it just to you left." Hiccup informed her, Astrid then placed all the dishes into the dish washer, never having had one before she guessed that the cutlery went into the basket on the bottom, the glasses went face down on the top and the dishes and skillet went on their side on the bottom. She looked over to Hiccup with a face not unlike a lost puppy's clearly not sure if she got it right. Hiccup nodded to indicate that Astrid did get it right. She gave small uncharacteristic 'yea' and jumped in the air happy, she was not sure why but she just felt like leaping into air with joy. "Why wouldn't you want Gobber to know?" Hiccup's voice brought her back to the present.

"I like to cook, don't get the wrong idea, I am no 50's house-wife, but when I cook I enjoy doing it and to make it my profession would just just destroy the joy I get from it, and I only do it when I'm happy. If Gobber finds out he'll 'promote' me from waitress to cook." Astrid answered as she retook her seat. She her arms crossed as she leaned back, she never shared this part of her life, not even her father really know about it.

"So what is your shift at the Meade Hall?" Hiccup asked, his head tilting to the right slightly as his faced constricted in confusion. All Berk's teenagers had their first job at the Meade Hall, well most, the other place for Berk teenagers for their first job was the Belch Forge, the town's all-purpose repair shop and smith, both managed by Gobber Belch.

"Wednesday through Friday, after school to like 8pm," Astrid answered as she removed her arms from in front of her to her sides, she was at first confused that Hiccup knew the restaurant she worked at, her right eyebrow raised, her head tilted to the left.

"I work at the Forge, myself, Monday to Wednesday nights about the same time." Hiccup answered. "I am unofficially Gobber's apprentice." he continued with a slight grin as he leaned back, clearly he was trying to impress Astrid, but why, Astrid was not sure, was he trying to pick a fight.

"You work, why?" Astrid asked as she leaned forward turning her heard slightly to the right, her eyes slightly narrowing, to her Hiccup was well off. He may not have been living in opulence as she originally believed but still.

"If I don't, I'll drive myself crazy. I can't keep playing my games forever and while I like draw..."

* * *

><p>Hiccup was confident<p>

"If I don't, I'll drive myself crazy. I can't keep playing my games forever and while I like drawing the dragons I visualize, I have to do something productive. " Hiccup answered, while it was not the ballsy resolute 'f-u because I am done with this sh!+' gale he had when the two first exchanged words when assignment was given or an 'I am better than you' deal, nor was it overcompensation not unlike Snotlout's blustering, but Hiccup was clearly confidence. Like he was trying to subtlety impress her, like he was saying without actually saying that he was the best...

"Are you trying to impress me?" Astrid asked, Hiccup returned his focus to her. She was not amused, or so Hiccup gathered, her left eyebrow raised her head leaning in but turned slightly to the right. A slight smirk on her face for having deflated his ego.

"No and yes." Hiccup said, he was resolute as he sat up and began to get up, he was acting like he had both his legs, just as he was about to left his right leg, Astrid dashed around the table and caught him.

"What is with you, and not you but all men? Are you purposefully stupid!" Astrid spoke to him clearly irate, but it was more of a mother's concern over her child doing something s/he shouldn't due to the chance the action would injury him/her then Astrid's usual bully anger. Her face was red from the fury, her eyes dilated and her nostril flared a little. She then put Hiccup back into the chair. It was only than that the two realized that Astrid actually held Hiccup to her chest and Hiccup noticed she was not wearing a...

"You're not wearing a..." Hiccup started to say was his face went crimson and his eyes dilated and than constricted and dilated again, but he never finished his sentence as he knocked out of the chair by the back of Astrid's right hand coming into contact with the right side of his face. He could see the anger boiling in her face as she realized that she had held him to her chest, but something was off, it was not the 'I!HATE!YOU!' anger he was familiar with, this looked like she was confused and his presence was only making things worse, but he did not register any of that until after he was on the floor. While he mentally registered what happened he did see Astrid run out of the kitchen towards the stairs and the guest room. Hiccup was able to turn himself so that he could get himself up and back into the chair. "What is with her? She makes me breakfast one minute and the next she slaps me across the face like that." Hiccup said as he rubbed his chin, his eye narrowing as he squinted at what happened.

He looked to Toothless for an answer, the hound only tilted his head to the right and leaned it back as if he was saying 'Seriously, I barely understand you 5 times out of 10 and I live with you and we are both males, do you honestly think I would understand her.'

"Sorry about that, I know I promised to stop bullying you." Hiccup turned to face Astrid she was leaning against the way, her head down in shame, her arms crossed in front of her, but for some reason Hiccup sensed that it was not her usual 'I am the best and brightest, Useless' demeanor, it was as if she was trying to provide a barrier between herself and something, but what, what can possibly inspire any degree of fear in Astrid Hofferson, weren't the Hoffersons known for their fearlessness?

All these contradictions, not only around Astrid but for his own life. Astrid was the last person he would share either of his secrets concerning his physical state with and yet he did just that, well the first one was sort of a result of an accident, but still. And he feeling both exposed for being powerless and yet relieved for having come clean about his physical faults. In addition he taught Astrid how to pown even him in one of his best games and while he was glad she was enjoying the game and playing so well he could not help but hate that she sniped him right out the gates. As for Astrid, first she comes in as if to manipulate him, then she goes … well like a cornered injured animal. Then yesterday she like trying to make peace in addition to competing the project, even asking for forgiveness and sawing her own weakness and yet she made a jab of his well chosen pun. And today she makes a meal for and even helps him when he fell only to smack him across the face knocking him onto the floor like she was some sort of... no she is a tsundere and now she acting like she's afraid of him. Hiccup couldn't take it, he thought he could let the bridge be built on its organic schedule.

Enough was enough, if Astrid was going to stay here any longer then she was going to have to come clean, why did she slap him like that, why did she bully him over the last year and a half, everything, Hiccup thought as he got his crutches and began heading out of t he room. The look in his eyes narrow with resolve. "You know what, I cannot do this, I thought I could be a host, that I could be more tolerable but I just can't. I feel nothing but resentment towards you. You made my life miserable for no reason, both as the direct and indirect cause for the better part of the last two years. You have to compete with me at every level in the only area in society I can shine and all you say is because its a matter of survival, and now my best... well only friend is taking your side. Traitor," Hiccup directed the last bit to Toothless who was now positioning himself to between Hiccup and Astrid. "You have until 6pm to either pack-up and get out or tell me why you had to come here and why you have taken upon yourself to be my bully for the last year and a half. I am calling the police at 6:01" Hiccup then passed Astrid, he was trying to get away before he... "And here's the real kicker, I have a crush on you, I like how you stand for what you believe in, that you don't take any nonsense, how gracious a winner you are, those adorable azure eyes of yours, your cute face, your bravery, your strong presence, your aura of possibly being sweet and kind and the vibe that you and I are very similar, each hiding something from the rest of the world, among other reasons and I have been crushing over you since the first day of high school. That's why I stopped so long that day, I was tormented by my hatred of you and my crush on you. I am really messed up, I hate you and I have a crush on you." Hiccup said as he traversed to the stairs heading to his room, his confidence gone, he was angry, at Astrid, at himself, etc and he was scared. 'WHAT?! WHY AM I TELLING HER THIS? WHAT AM I SAYING?!' The right side of his brain screamed, clearly being emotional, the left side calmly and calculatedly asked in response 'why not? Maybe she can help resolve all... this and maybe there can be some closer.' Hiccup wanted to scream both in horror and in anger. His mind couldn't take it any more. He was done with this nonsense, one way or another.

"Wait." Hiccup heard Astrid say, it was not a command, it was a request. "I have something you should see, would you turn around." Astrid's voice sounded like it was shaking, not quite the stutter from Friday night, but still it lacked Astrid's characteristic resolve.

Hiccup took his time to turn to face Astrid, rolling his eyes as he did. Muttering to himself as to why he had to turn around and why Astrid couldn't just tell him, his face red with annoyance, his nostrils slightly flared, his pupils narrow. When he finished turning...

Author's Note:

Ain't I a sticker?

Yes, yes I am.

I just cliff-hung.

I took the liberty to make Gobber both the manager of the restaurant Astrid works at and the Forge. I also took the liberty to have Hiccup work at the forge. Astrid's work schedule came from my co-respondents with Rumbling Night Cutter so that I know what Rumbling Night Cutter had planned/conceived for the story so that I have a point of reference as I continued. It's worth noting  
>I do share what I write with Rumbling Night Cutter, I may be the legal guardian of the story now, but I like the input from the birth-parent.<p>

Please Read and Review


	9. Exposed and Uncertain

8

Exposed and Uncertain

Astrid was exposed

Astrid didn't need to look over her shoulder to see Hiccup's gaping mouth, his eyes widening in horror as he saw the scars and bruises that her father gave her all to bear as her shirt was removed "I maybe your bully by choice, but I was made a bully." She said weakly. "My father... he abuses me, ever since I started high school. Often its with his fist, some times he threatens with knives, once or twice with a gun. The only thing that kept him in check most of the time was my record in school and in the field. But even that's not enough, before I came here I don't recall the last time I had a good night sleep. I viewed that I had to become ruthless and cut-throat in order to survive. I bullied you as my target because you... you reminded me of myself in my relationship with my father and I was disgusted with it. But also because you have that stupidly adorable face, those cute eyes, you tell those ridiculously funny jokes, how you take a beating and brush it off like it was nothing, the way you make me feel, like I don't have to be prefect, that I can feel and feeling makes me feel weak, especially towards my father. I am so afraid of him. Friday night he attempted to..." Astrid didn't want to say it, but something told her she had to, if she wanted to end her old relation with Hiccup she had to and she wanted to. "take my-my-my vir-vir-virgin-virginity, he almost ki-kil-kil-killed me in the process." This was the second time she shuttered in to Hiccup. Tears were starting to come down her checks, this time she was not going to fight it, she couldn't. "I fought back, kicking, screaming, wailing, I managed to get him off of me before he could... could do the deed. I ran out and I drove away until I was out of gas. I called you because let's be honest I have destroyed all my other relationships due to my drive for perfection. I am so sor-sor-sorry for... everything." Astrid's resolve and voice failed her as she dropped to her knees and start to sob loudly, the tears were not going to stop. There were several reasons why she cried, 1) she finally admitted to herself about the monster her father was and everything he was tried to do, 2) she realized how much like her father she became, 3) she was humbled, her secrets revealed to the person she viewed to be her greatest enemy and 4) she was sorry. She closed her eyes as she continued to cry, the tears wouldn't stop and her nose was starting to run. She was the crying mess she hoped never to be, but right now she couldn't care less.

Toothless nudged the right side face of Astrid's face, causing her to stop, whimpering in sorrow over Astrid's story and started to lick her face. She looked at the dog from her left eye, her right eye closed as Toothless licked, it was nice to know someone truly cared for her, who would have thought that in less than 48 hours Toothless would go from about to tear out her throat to licking away her tears. "You are a good boy." she whispered weakly to the black dog and embrace her comforter, as if to bury herself into his black protective fur. Toothless only whimpered, but it seem to not be directed at Astrid, or so Astrid guessed. She then felt someone try to help her up, well first she felt her shirt pulled back down. She looked to her left and Hiccup had managed to take hold of her left arm and pull her back onto her feet. She looked into his eyes, they were starting to return to their normal size.

* * *

><p>Hiccup was uncertain what to do.<p>

Astrid's was many things, but an actor was not one of them. Besides there is no way she could have self-inflicted the scars on her back, the human body just doesn't bend like that, not even veteran contortionists could self-inflict scares like those. And now she was sobbing, Hiccup imagined a few times what it would be like to see Astrid cry for a change, part of him wanted it to be something that made him feel better, like he was now in control. But now he felt like the monster, here he was the gatekeeper of in all honesty the only place of refuge for Astrid and he had threaten to throw her back to the wolfs, well ogre. Sure his relationship with his father was far from ideal, Stoick being emotionally distant from him and disappointed with how Hiccup turned out, granted Hiccup was not an innocent victim in all that. But Stoick only raised his hand against Hiccup for disciplinary reasons i.e. spanking when need. Stoick would never do anything like what was done to Astrid to Hiccup. Hiccup moved to the sobbing mess and as Toothless was trying to clean her face. "You a good boy." Hiccup heard Astrid whisper to Toothless. Toothless then whimpered at Hiccup, as if to say 'Well now that's she down, what are you going to do.' As Hiccup closed the distance he looked at Toothless a little annoyed as if the beast was implying that Hiccup was going to kick her now, metaphorically. Hiccup was able to get Astrid back onto her feet, after pulling her shirt back down, clearly he elected to help Astrid back up, metaphorically and literally. He looked into her eyes and he no longer saw the bully that tormented and tortured him over the last year and a half, he saw a frighten little girl. A girl that was damaged and broken worse than he was and while he blamed the gods for his deteriorating hearing, he had only himself to blame for his other handicap, Astrid on the other hand, this was something no one should ever ever endure that. "I am not ready to forgive you, yet. But I fully accept your apology." Hiccup said after taking a breath, closing his eyes and took a few seconds to think until he found a middle ground that can resolve things, well for the time being.

"I'll take it." Astrid said, her face showing defeat, a look most unbecoming on her, Hiccup noted. She then gave him a soft punch in the chest. "That's for trying to walk without your crutch or fake-leg." She said in a weaken version of her usual manner. Hiccup was taken a back and looked to Toothless, his mouth slightly opened, his eyes squinting as if Toothless could give an intelligible answer to this, because Hiccup could not compute it and it seemed that Astrid had none. Toothless only unamused-ly huffed as if to say 'Didn't we already have this conversation like not even five minutes ago.' Astrid then pulled Hiccup's face to hers and she kissed him with her eyes closed. Hiccup's first reaction was to try to pull back but after a short while he partially melted into the kiss. After a second she let go of Hiccup and turned to not face him, as she started to blush she fiddled with her hair and said "That's for... everything else." She looked back to Hiccup and saw his face, flush red his eyes dilated, stupid toothy partial smile on his face, clearly this was his first kiss, Astrid couldn't help but blush again and turn away, it was her first kiss too.

Hiccup however snapped out of his stupor. "Um Astrid, do you happen to have your prescription for your contacts?" Hiccup asked, as he reached his left hand back behind his head, looking up and away to his right. "Because if you do, I can get you some more." Hiccup was not sure why he was offering, but maybe he should extend his own olive branch.

"I'll have to go back Friday no matter what, but thank you." Astrid said, Hiccup knew she wanted to accept his offer, but something was holding her back.

"Alright. Say, how about best 7 out of 13, last night game counts in your favor but breakfast doesn't." Hiccup said as he headed to the couch. "And after that maybe we can look over each other notes from our classes and compare." Hiccup's right side of his brain was going berserk, what is he thinking, offering to compare notes with his greatest rival, why not just give her the valedictorian now. The left side smack the other hemisphere pointing out that since Astrid perceived things differently and having her perspective would help him be better in class.

"Wait, we only share AP World History." Astrid pointed out, her head tilting back and to the left squinting at Hiccup, clearly baffled at what was going on. Toothless did just as Astrid, he too was not seeing what was going on.

"True, but I too am taking AP English, AP Chemistry, Health, AP Geometry and Norse studies, granted at different times. I know because our other teachers post the top five students, and there are six names on their lists, your name and mine share the 1st place spot. Why are acting surprise, Astrid, it's like you never notice the list." Hiccup said as he returned his attention to Astrid, she had shifted her head to the other-side. Toothless matching the gesture. "Well back to my point... maybe instead of trying to undermine each other we could better ourselves from the other, also it would be refreshing to compare notes with someone that doesn't break things down into the stats." Hiccup said as he started up the X-box and prep for the game.

Astrid face shifted slowly to its normal, well factoring out the glasses it would be normal. She slowly walked over to the couch and took the right side as Hiccup took the left side. "It's going to be 13 to 0, Hiccup." Astrid finally said as she took the controller she used last game, her usually confident self was back.

"I say last night was a 'hiccup' and I will whip the floor with you in these twelve rounds." Hiccup said matching Astrid's bravado as he took the left side. He took his controller and started the game. Toothless sat on the couch between the two and watched as the two began their contest.

* * *

><p>'Stormfly Deadly-Nadder Vs. Nóttmóðr, 13 rounds, results: Nóttmóðr wins: 6, Stormfly Deadly-Nadder wins: 6, Draw: 1.' the results read. Astrid and Hiccup were at a lost as they looked from the results on the screen to each other and back and forth at least nine times until they were looking at each other. The first twelve rounds, including the one from last night, were fairly straight forward, each either sniping or using a grenade or other fairly long range to kill the other after the other tripped-up, Astrid due to her inexperience, Hiccup for being over confident, or in one or two causes, just dumb luck. The last one they both head shot the other, the 'round' going through the others eye that was using the scope. It was a one in a trillion shot for either hitting the other like that, let alone both successfully killing the other like that. "Well its a good thing for you that this was all off line." Astrid said a little sheepishly, as she dipped her head slightly, looking over her lenses to Hiccup as if to fain guilt<p>

"Yeah. But epic shot. No one else has ever gotten my character in the eye. Granted that was the first time I got the same shot." Hiccup stated slightly amused at everything. Just then _"MORTAL COMBAT!"_ came from Hiccup's phone. He almost jumped out of his skin, he forgot about the prank Tuffnut pull with the ring-tone. Hiccup fumbled to answer it. He was able to get the caller ID this time."Ahoy Fishlegs." Hiccup said into the phone,

"Hey Hiccup, I hope you don't mind if I come over. You have been avoiding me since the summer ended, well outside of school and offline I should say. I am worried about you, especially with your recent pairing with Astrid for the AP World History project in Mr. Treacherous' class." Fishlegs voice stated his concern.

"Um... sure. See you in half an hour or so?" Hiccup asked.

"Actually, this is more of an FYI, I am literally at your front door." Fishlegs said. "I hope you know Astrid is here, because her car is parked on your driveway."

"Um-thanks, Fish. Give me about ten minutes to get myself together."

'Dude come on we know the door's unlocked and he's been blowing off the team matches at his house since the start of summer. Let's just go in.' in was Tuffnut's voice.

'Or we could break it down, I always wanted to try that. Tuff you mind being the ram?' that was the other twin.

'THAT WILL BE TOTALLY EPIC, WE'LL BREAK IT DOWN WITH MY __FACE___!_' Tuffnut's voice carried over clearly excited at the idea. Hiccup and Astrid heard it not only over the phone but also from the main door. They knew what they had to do. Astrid bolted to the guest room, obviously to change into something more presentable and to put on her contacts.

"Hold on a few minutes." Hiccup hung up on Fishlegs and then turned to Toothless, "Get my leg and the boots, ASAP."Hiccup said as he hid his crutches under the couch again. Toothless bolted to the stairs and towards Hiccup's room. Hiccup was not ready for Astrid to know his secrets when she found out, he was certainly not ready for three more people within 24 hours of Astrid learning of his leg even if they are his friends, well technically Fishlegs is the only friend as for the twins... enough said. Toothless arrived with everything in less than a minute and as Hiccup attached the prosthetic and put on his boots Astrid entered the room, she was wearing the same top as before, this time she was most likely wearing a bra. For her pants it was her signature blue pants with the studded red skirt and belt with skulls along it and as the buckle. However Astrid keep her glasses. "Don't worry, I'll agree with you if you saw they are for show." Hiccup told her as he got up and started to headed to the door. "Now Toothless stay...stay...st... and he bolts to the door. Thanks for nothing you useless canine." Hiccup deadpanned in his usual sarcastic manner as the black mutt bolted pass him and started to paw at the door. Hiccup arrived after Toothless and opened the door.

"WOAH! Look how big Toothless gotten." Ruffnut said looking over the huge hound, she leaned in and started to rub the dog. Toothless was not amused, Ruffnut as being a little to forceful with her rubs. "Are you sure there's no bear in him?" She said look back to Hiccup

"Impossible, while dogs and bears both belong to the canifomia group of carnivores, there are so many things that make it impossible for them to mate. 1st..." Fishlegs started, after taking a second to 'a-hum' into his left hand straighten his hair with his right and

Hiccup put his hand up, as he dipped his head slightly in annoyance clearly her didn't want Fishlegs to go through the break down, while it was useful for construction characters in RPGs and for meta-game inquiries when Fishlegs was the quest or game master, DM when D&D was the specific RPG being played it was frequently a problem in the real world. "Fish, I am going to stop you there. Come in. Astrid came by Friday night to get a start on our project. I offered to let her stay the week so that was get as much done as possible, hopefully everything save the skit before the week's over, but most likely the outline and a good part of the paper and maybe get a start on how we are doing the skit." Hiccup said a little too load for his conversation with Fishlegs and the twins but it was load enough for Astrid to hear so that the two could keep their stories straight.

"I thought you hate each other." Ruffnut pointed out as she straighten herself and entered the house, her twin following and Fishlegs taking the rear.

"No they don't. They are clearly experiencing sexual frustrations about and around the other. Hiccup, like most guys at the school, has desires for Astrid, but since he is the, quote 'runt of the litter' unquote, he is the most frustrated in trying to demonstrate that he is the best male sexual partner. As for Astrid, she is use to guys that think they can woe her by demonstrations of physical power and that's what she knows, however Hiccup's demonstration of his intellectual might arises her and because it is so different from what she was raised to believe she is stuck in a state of confusion and Astrid deals with confusion via removing the source." Tuffnut said as he passed a paused Ruffnut as Hiccup, Fishlegs, Astrid and Toothless were standing still in utter confusion. Astrid and Hiccup didn't not think that the human body had enough blood to allot to their crimson going on purple faces. No one had no idea that Tuffnut could make such an astute observation and that Tuffnut could articulate it so well, with the exception of Ruffnut, she looked as though she was going over what her twin said. "By the way is that the Belch Basic you have as the prosthetic lower left leg? It's a great modal, but if you want to hind it, you may want to spend more time leaning on it, you weight is too much on the right . Nice glasses Astrid, you may want to try a larger rim, it will provide better support for the lenses. And if you can, you should upgrade the lenses themselves to Transition and Clizal PreVencia combination, you'll get a lot more out of them." Tuffnut said everything as if Hiccup's prosthetic and Astrid's glasses were coming knowledge and took the seat slightly to the right of the couch, clearly it was his usual spot for the team matches. Astrid and Hiccup were frozen in horror as their secrets were revealed by Tuffnut. 'There goes the cover story' a part of Astrid's mind

After Ruffnut as she finished her thought, as if she was verifying Tuffnut's facts."He's right about the lenses, but the rims are fine. You may actually want to go with the recent Horrendous Flair, for a week it will cause more of a limp but in the long run its the more natural and you can modify it to have three different 'feet' each for a different function, granted you cannot hind it, but you can at least sleep and take a proper shower with in." Ruffnut said almost exactly like her twin and took the spot to the left of the couch. Astrid fainted on the couch while Hiccup's reaction matched hers but he was caught by Fishlegs. "Tuff should we tell him, he wouldn't have to adjust the volume on his hearing aid as often if he goes with the Fox-ear?" Ruffnut asked her twin after the two looked at the passed out Astrid and Hiccup as Fishlegs brought Hiccup to the couch, her face slightly red with concern.

"Not today, neither seem to be taking things well." Tuffnut answered, his face normal as he stated the fact.

"Fair enough. So why they come around. It's time for Barf and Belch to go kaiju." Ruffnut said as she started up the X-Box to go online and got ready to play.

"You are so right, Sis." Tuffnut said as he took another controller and the two waited for the game to start.

"You guys are smarter then you let on." Fishlegs said as he went into the kitchen for some smelling salts to waken Hiccup and Astrid, he was clearly flustered at this reveal.

"No we're just more observant than most. Have to be to get the best bang for our buck." the twins said in unison and they started playing.

Author's Note: I don't own an X-Box or play Halo, I am just guessing and continuing the use of X-Box that was in Rumbling Night Cutter's last chapter (Chapter 5), so forgive my ignorance. I am more of a N64, GameCube and Wii guy for systems as for games I am more of a Star Fox, TLOTR kind of guy... expect on a PC then I am a WarCraft (Not World of WarCaft), The Battle for Middle-Earth, StarCraft, Age of Empires kind of guy.

So Read and Review


	10. Coming to and Dread

9

Coming to, Shock and Dread

Hiccup and Astrid came to.

Each coming to as the smelling salt was held to each of their noses by Fishlegs, one in each of Fishlegs' hands.

"What the... that stinks. What happened?" Astrid and Hiccup said in unison as they came to at the same time, their eyes squinting as they turned their faced away from the center of the space above the couch, Hiccup to his right, Astrid to her left, ironically the two were back to back facing away fro the TV.

"In short, Tuffnut suggest that the reason Astrid bullies Hiccup is because of sexual frustrations, and that it is the same reason for Hiccup's own dislike of Astrid. Tuffnut and Ruffnut then revealed that they knew of your secrets, acting like the secrets were common knowledge and made suggestions on what you two should consider doing." Fishlegs answered as he help the two to set up properly, as the two now faced the TV. There was a look on his face that Hiccup knew to mean 'why didn't you tell me?', slightly puffy lip with a faint quiver, eyes dilated as if to draw the answer out. Hiccup said nothing, what could he say.

"Sorry for fain..." Astrid started, turning to the twins, her face still red but slowly lowly returning to its natural shade. She pupils returning to their natural dimensions. She wanted to change the subject, more for Hiccup than herself, but still this was highly uncomfortable for her.

"I'd faint too if two individuals that acted like utter fools more or less called me out on a secret and act like my secret was common knowledge." Ruffnut cut her off, only Tuffnut was not shocked at how empathic Ruffnut was, yet neither of the twins broke from the game, it was not Halo anymore, it was a new game call Dragon Tamers, actually one of Hiccup's favorite, they were playing in two player mode, the two were actually surprising good, well to Astrid's eyes, Hiccup and Fishlegs were better but they knew it was best played by four. "As to why you never told me and Tuff, I get it. We're loose cannons that are liable to blab about anything."

"I am not, I am going to blab...Well not in this case, but normally I blab." Tuffnut chimed in, the before saying the last bit after a pause 'looking' over what he just said, his eyes focusing at the space between them, his mouth slightly agape and after realizing what could be inferred he stated the last bit to correct himself and turn back to the game.

"Anyway, its okay to need glasses, besides they make you look smarter..."Ruffnut turned the attention back from Tuffnut and decided to complement Astrid, well that or at least start a list off with her and Tuffnut, her eyes still on the game. It was an attempted olive branch, well the best Ruffnut could offer at the time.

"Deceptively less threatening." Tuffnut added, taking the verbal hint, however lacking in his earlier tack. Astrid glared at the back of Tuffnut's head and while he brushed the back of his head to get the feeling away, he didn't take his overall focus off the game in front of him.

"Cuter" Ruffnut listed following her twin, Astrid shifted her glare from Tuffnut to Ruffnut, and while it was clear that Ruffnut felt a similar burn in the back of her head, but she did not rub, instead she shock her head a couple of times, still like her twin her main focus was on the game.

"And... and... and... okay I got nothing else." Tuffnut tried to continue, but realized too late he could not. While still focused on the game, Tuffnut then address Hiccup "The same deal for your leg Hiccup, just to let you know. Well about why you never told us, as for how the leg looks on you, for some reason it gives you a more tough guy appearance, like you've already paid your dues and no one has anything on you deal. Sure most people have scars, but you got something so much more epic. Now why you didn't tell Fishlegs about your leg, well lets remember that time when Ruffnut admitted to him to burring Snotlout alive. It was all over the news in less than 10 minutes." Tuffnut called everyone attention to Fishlegs and his tendency to spit out secrets. Fishlegs moved around the couch nervously, his face a little pink in embarrassment as the fact was called out.

"I almost went to 'juvie' because of that." Ruffnut pointed out clearly still a little sour about the matter. Neither Astrid nor Hiccup could truly empathize but they both know that if one twin was not present the other would cause more trouble because there wouldn't be the back and forth of how 'cool' or 'awesome' the act would be or debating on the how to preform the action or the action itself thus causing the two to frequently miss the moment. "By the way you should consider changing brands of hearing aids to Fox-Ears, they blend in to the ear better." Ruffnut then called attention back to Hiccup's secrets, this one was his longer kept hearing loss. Hiccup's face again went deep red, his eyes dilating, however he surprised to not be as phased by Ruffnut's announcement as he was when Astrid picked up the hearing aid up from the floor after it fell out Friday night.

"And they self adjust. Well not always, but you won't have to adjust them as often, even as your hearing is failing." Tuffnut added, it was like both twins knew everything. Hiccup didn't know why but the twins knowing of his failing ears was not the blow to his psyche he expected it to be. Or maybe because Astrid already know his secrets made Fishlegs and the twins finding out was not as bad, maybe if people knew of his handicaps...Hiccup couldn't compute this topic anymore. He needed to change subjects.

"How do you two know all of our secrets?" Hiccup asked as he put his right hand to his forehead on his and started to rub it. The question was also on Astrid's mind, but under her stoic appearance dread crept in her marrow, if Ruffnut and Tuffnut figured out all of Hiccup's secrets and that she need to wear glasses/contacts...what if they could figure out about...about...about..., Astrid's brain just... stopped, it just wouldn't not work, not unlike a broken vinyl record.

"We're highly observant, how else do you get away with all our projects" Ruffnut answered, every one know what she meant, the twins while often miss their chances, the few times their 'plans' went through it is impossible to prove that they in fact did it, legally... there was the 'close call' when Ruffnut revealed to Fishlegs she buried Snotlout alive for two hours, but the confusion was the only evidence and it was weakly circumstantial at best. Her main focus never left the game.

"And how else would they be as __**EPIC!**___"_ Tuffnut shouts as he left his hand into the air after having his character deliver a critical hit which destroyed the opponent granting him the kill and bonus XP. It was in deed an epic shot, well strike he was referring to both the strike and the historical actions of himself and his twin. Everyone was impressed by the kill blow and the timing of Tuffnut's word choice. Ruffnut was ticked that she didn't make the kill but she was too impressed with how the boss exploded to truly focus on not getting the kill. Fishlegs was agape, it defied all his meticulously collectedstatistics, Astrid and Hiccup were blank.

After a second Astrid's brain was able to finally reset."So Eret and Camicazi don't have a problem with either of you two slacking?" Astrid asked as she returned to the normal way shedealt with the twins, calling them out. Hiccup rolled his eyes, while Astrid's attention was on the twins. Yes he had limited 'control' if that was the right word, over the twins, but he knew better than to call out their academic short comings, the two are actually very smart, its just a matter of knowing the area the two shine and pointing them in that direction. Calling the twins out on their lack luster in traditional eduction is not going to help her make headway with them.

"Camicazi said she call me to edit and go over our skit, its the decapitation of Louis XVI, and I am Louis." Tuffnut said as he and Ruffnut continued the game. The two were getting ready to play the next level, the narrowing of their eyes indicating that they have played to this point but haven't gotten past this one yet, Astrid could literally taste their focus on the upcoming level.

"Eret wants to do a little know rebellion from the 1000's or something like that in Scandinavia, our scene is when the leader of the rebellion rallies the followers of Thor to drive his Christian brother, whom was the king, out. We more or less have a similararrangement as Tuffnut and Camicazi." Ruffnut said as the level started and the two began to go 'button-mash' on their controllers. To Astrid it looked like the two were going to make, her eyes dilating and mouth slightly open in awe, but Hiccup and Fishlegs only dipped their heads in slight sadness, it wasn't that the two couldn't beat this level, but this was meant as a four person game and this level proved it, something the twins don't seem to get. Hiccup pushed the pause on Ruffnut's controller and looked at the two, his eyes normal, the slightly red of his checks, it was his 'stay' command and the two stopped playing and stayed like a couple of well trained dogs.

"I am so glad I have Ms. Fierce, we just have three papers which even added together are less than what Mr. Treacherous has assigned." Fishlegs commented a little to gladly, breaking the focus from the twins and their revealings, the twins turned to face Fishlegs along with Astrid and Hiccup, all four giving off a faint growl at the injustice of Mr. Treacherous' teaching that Fishlegs just had to call out. "Um..I am going..um to... um.. feed Toothless." Fishlegs said nervously as he began to leave the living room, mostly taking sidesteps until he could get into the kitchen, all eight human eyes glaring at his in wrath, following him every nanometer of the way. Toothless trotted behind Fishlegs happy to be fed and glad to have a face saving reason to not be there and to be mentioned again after no-one really focusing on him since Ruffnut's part-bear Q & Fishlegs' incomplete-A.

"So you two know my glasses are real, Hiccup and I have... feelings for each other, Hiccup lost his leg and is going deaf?" Astrid asked trying to see just how much the twins were able to uncover, internally she was praying that the two were not able to divine her home, if that word is even applicable, life, assuming that word as also applicable, her eyes narrowing, her face squinting as she took a seat on the right side of the couch. Hiccup sat on the left side, after getting two additional controls set up one for him and another for Astrid. Hiccup may have forgotten how observant the twins can be, but they cannot know something like Astrid's life at her house, not unless they actually been there and the two would have told him, most likely off-handed and by accident, that they were there.

"You ask that question like there is something we are missing." Tuffnut answered his face constricting and narrowing as if he was insulted.

"Are we missing something?" Ruffnut asked looking at her twin, slightly perplexed and confused, her head tilted to a little to the left.

"How can we, we gone over everything" Tuffnut said after looking up to the ceiling with his mouth open going over the facts. After saying it the twins compared notes, just to make sure, ignorant of the nonverbal dialogue between the other two in the room. Astrid looked at Hiccup, as if to plea that he does tell about what she confessed to him, her face pale with terror. Hiccup's calm face indicated that if the twins find out it was not from him, directly or indirectly.

"She was just curious as to how your minds work, say how about we show Astrid the ropes of the game." Hiccup said normally, well with a slight bit of annoyance that comes from the twins' frequent interpenetration of what he says but with the twins it was normal, breaking the twin's concentration. The two then gave their signature semi-evil grin, as if this time they were going beat the level and maybe show-up Miss Perfect.

"But I want to play." came an overly excited Fishlegs from the kitchen as he re-entered the living room, Toothless wolfing down his meal, it was not the slightly re-refrigerated meat he preferred, it was the dry kibble, but it was still good.

"You can be Astrid's adviser in character construction and basic game mechanics, for this level. I think Ruffnut and Tuffnut are still ticked about you mentioning your AP World History Class and may back-stab your character, I know I am tempted to, so you playing right now is unadvised." Hiccup said turning to face Fishlegs, his expression calm, his head tilting a little to the right clearly trying to indicate that he already sized-up the scene and gave the means for the best outcome if Fishlegs got involved and what would likely happen if Fishlegs may face if he goes too far.

"Okay, first off, Tuffnut's and Ruffnut's characters are the team tank and glass cannon, Hiccup is usually the team's stealth player, so Astrid, you should go for the healer, now just to let you know healers can cast spell much like the 'glass cannon' and other arcane magic users, they can repeal undead and they have access to weapons and armor like the 'tank' and with more hit points than the stealth character, they actually have the best 'damage to hit point' ratios out there. So let's build you a cleric, got name you would like to use?" Fishlegs asked as he sat to the right of Astrid and began to help her construct her character. He was clearly bubbling with excitement.

"How does 'Stormfly' sound?" Astrid asked as she took her controller in hand, she looked that the twins with her 'So you think you're going to show-up together, how cute.' smirk as her eyes narrowed in focus.

* * *

><p>Hiccup felt dread.<p>

Not for himself, but for Astrid. Something in his gut told him that if Astrid returned to her house she was not going to live past Saturday. It was now 9pm, Fishlegs and the twins left for their homes two hours ago. Hiccup noted that Astrid really enjoyed playing Dragon Tamers, and she made one kick-butt valkyrie-type healer, which worked very well when combined with Tuffnut's fully armored tank style warrior, Ruffnut max-damaging glass-mortar style magic user, Fishlegs fact finding jack-of-all trade-type bard and/or Hiccup's own surgical precise nearly instinct kill sneak-attacking, lock-mastering rouge. Astrid had gone to bed, in fact he just shut the guest bedroom door having checked on her and she was sound asleep, a smile on her face, she was truly an astrid (divine beauty) as she slept. If it weren't considered creepy, Hiccup could spend all night just watching her sleep and be perfectly fine in the morning, in fact he would do that for the rest of his life if he could. He had to call someone concerning what Astrid father did to her, the police, no they only had his word and he was unsure if Astrid would cooperate. Gobber, no, while he would believe Hiccup and try to do something, he was not going to be much help, but not from a lack of trying. Stoick it was, as much as Hiccup did not want to, Stoick was the only one that would believe him (Hiccup) and could do anything about the matter. He went to the garage, where he would often metal sculpt, it was somewhat therapeutically. He picked up the house phone and dialed his father's cell phone number.

After one ring "This is Superintendent Haddock." Stoick answered, he was wide awake, and while he was not expecting a call, he was stoic as ever.

"Hey Dad, its me. Before you say anything, I have a few things to tell you. First, in my AP World History class, I was partnered with Astrid Hofferson, you know my main academic rival. Second, she's spending the week here, because of the project and because..." Hiccup paused he was not sure what he can say or how but after a second "She's abused by her father. The third thing is that she knows of my... hearing and leg." Hiccup said into the phone, his resolve some how held.

"That's a pretty bold accusation, that Mr. Hofferson bets Astrid. But you are many things, a liar is not one of them. How long will Astrid be staying?" Stoick's voice was very stoic, but something was there, like when they learned of Hiccup's failing hearing. Hiccup didn't know he could possibly hear the subtle yet honest concern now, but there it was. Hiccup grinned a little as he heard his father. Hiccup never thought this conversation would go so well, but it was going well

"At least a week, Dad. I am terrified, not for myself but for her. I am afraid that if she goes back she will not make it to Sunday morning. I don't know what to do. I know this is masochistic of me, but I have a crush on her and maybe she and I can have a relationship, but..." Hiccup's resolve gave out, he fell into the seat he had next to where the house phone for the garage was, which happened to be at the desk where he worked on the designs for his sculptures and other engineering ideas he had. Tears were starting to form around his tear ducts, his eyes squeezing tight, his head dipped down as he leaned forward and his breath was forced to keep from breaking into a full cry. The dread was so much it actually was causing him physical pain in is chest, it was not an anxiety attack, it was in his heart.

"I'll be on the next flight home. Son... you did the right thing opening our home to her, trying to conceive her to stay longer than a week and for calling." Stoick paused for a second and Hiccup could hear Stoick take a breath to gather himself for what he was about to say, as if he said it wrong or didn't say it, things between the two would never be resolved. "Hiccup..."

Author's note:

And Cliffhanger...

I have to keep your interest some how and cliffhangers, while not always under that name, are a tried and true means to do just that.

Sorry for the delay, Real Life is a... well you get the idea. Oh if you can check out my own fan fictions, I recommend reading the Star Fox Fan-fictions first, just to get an idea on how I have progressed as a writer, but if you don't care for Star Fox, well then just read How to Date and its one-shots.

And also check out Rumbling Night Cutter's works s/he is still working, my personal favorite being the Guardian Night Fury/Ghost of the Night Fury story line, the Pet Day one-shots are a close second. Well in all fairness this is after Rumbling Night Cutter put The Feeling's Mutual up for adoption, before that The Feeling's Mutual was my favorite...neither here nor there.

So Read, Review, PM. Hopefully Real Life won't be as much of a pain in composing Chapter 10

Foxmorgoth out


	11. Unsurprised and Startled

Chapter 10

Unsurprised and Startled

Stoick was unsurprised.

Stoick owned one of the biggest manufacturing companies around and with the company shared his surname, in addition to being the superintendent of a fairly large school district. He would often get phone calls at odd hours, which is why he was often away from home, he was a single dad that not only was a superintendent of a school district, but one of the largest in the stateat that and he really had no idea how to balance that, the family firm and his paternal duties. His father's death on the same day of his son's birth didn't help matters, Valka's death that day... Stoick rarely didn't live up to his name but that day... he wished it never happened. Of the three he fell short as a father. when he his cellphone rang. He was in his hotel room just lying on his back on the bed. It had been an interesting week resolving the an issue with Meathead Middle School, something about the five times a day pray Muslims have to do religiously but weren't able to due to state and federal laws. Stoick knew it was a stupid law, but it was the law and he had to back the school. Stoick had nothing against the Islamic faith and those whom followed it, but he had to stand behind the principle. Meathead Middle School is at the far end of the Misery Meridian school district from his home town Berk, and he had to oversee an inventory hard count at the storehouse in the same town, well he didn't have to but since he was already there and since his name was the company's. Stoick however did not drive, he had a private jet that was able to land at all the Haddock Industry sites, each were a short ride to the schools in his district. Recently he was looking at a photo of his late love Valka Victoria Valhallarama, Hiccup's mother, Hiccup looks so much like her, the below average build, the green eyes, the auburn hair, it's was as if Hiccup was a masculine version of her. Stoick was surprisingly quick for a man of his size and answered the phone after the first ring, while putting the photo to the side. "This is Superintendent Haddock." He answered stoically, his face not hinting to any emotion, shock or surprise, but he was not expecting a call.

"Hey Dad, its me. Before you say anything, I have a few things to tell you. First, in my AP World History class, I was partnered with Astrid Hofferson, you know my main academic rival. Second, she's spending the week here, because of the project and because..." Stoick never recalled Hiccup having so much resolve in speaking to him, the pause in Hiccup's sentence came as a surprise, Stoick's face shifted to show concern, his eyes slightly dilating and his face a little paler. He was still on his back on the bed. "She's abused by her father. The third thing is that she knows of my... hearing and leg." Stoick was taken aback, Hiccup told Astrid about his hearing and leg, with all the effort that Hiccup put into hiding it. Stoick may have been distant emotionally, but he knew of his son's efforts to conceal both secretes.

Stoick knew on what to focus on. "That's a pretty bold accusation, that Mr. Hofferson bets Astrid. But you are many things, a liar is not one of them. How long will Astrid be staying?" Stoick's voice was very stoic, but something was there, like when they learned of Hiccup's failing hearing. Stoick's face was returning to its normal color, but his eyes narrowed in focus as he sat up. Part of Stoick prayed that Hiccup was able to hear the subtle concern.

"At least a week, Dad, I am terrified, not for myself but for her. I am afraid that if she goes back she will not make it to Sunday morning. I don't know what to do. I know this is masochistic of me, but I have a crush on her and maybe she and I can have a relationship, but..." Hiccup's resolve gave out, Stoick heard, he figured that Hiccup was about to cry, and the squeak in the background had to the Hiccup falling into the chair in the garage at the desk Gobber told Stoick about.

Stoick could hear the forced breathing, the last time he heard that was when they learned of Hiccup's failing hearing. It was time to step up and the tightening of his face as he got off the bed, only the smallest hit to his resolve. "I'll fly home tomorrow. Son... you did the right thing opening our home to her, trying to conceive her to stay longer than a week and for calling." Stoick paused for a second and took a breath. "Hiccup..." Stoick than paused tears starting to form around his own eyes. "I don't say it as often as I should, but... I love you." Stoick said his usually stoic nature was not present, the regret for not saying it sooner or more often was thicker in his voice than his Renfrewshire accent.

Hiccup was hesitant with what to do. Those three words were not enough by any means to forgive his father for the abandonment Hiccup endured especially with his lost limb and failing ears, for the apparent disappointment expressed by Stoick around Hiccup, and everything else. But Hiccup could feel the sincerityin Stoick's statement, that maybe this was Stoick's attempt to start some sort of atonement, some sort of reconciliation. It not much but it was real. "Me too." Hiccup finally said, mostly because it felt like how he dealt with Astrid earlier that day, that maybe both parties need to extend to the other an olive branch in order for them to resolve things. Hiccup was surprised how much better he felt after replying to his father, maybe its true; Forgiveness blesses the forgiven and the forgiver. "So what should we do about..." Hiccup decided to change topics.

"First you should tell her how you feel about her going back, completely, honestly and sincerely and try to convince her to stay. I am assuming you didn't talk with her before calling me." Stoick was right on the mark. It surprised both of them how much Stoick either actually knew or could figure out about Hiccup in a short period of time, if the chance is taken.

"And you would be right on that account, how did you guest?" Hiccup asked, feeling guilt having been called out.

"Let's just say, I made stupid decisions when I was a lad your age, apples don't far from the tree, no matter what the circumstances" Stoick chuckled as he spoke, maybe Hiccup was not so different from him as it appeared. "Back to the things to do. The second thing is to be prepared for her to go back, she may not wish to stay longer, its ultimately her call. Third, let her know you want to tell someone, or have her tell some one, recommend me but with tack. I will be home before you get back from the Forge. And for Thor's sake, make sure to keep the other three limbs." Stoick joked, or what Hiccup assumed was his father's attempt.

"I am deadpanning at that, just to let you know." Hiccup deadpanned looking forward to at the cork-board where he pinned all the machines he dreamed, there was a motorcycle that was very much like the Night Fury dragon, a tank akin to the Rumblehorn dragon and a few others. "Well I better go. I..." Hiccup said as he ran out of things for this conversation and he was not quite sure what else to say.

"I love you too, Son." Stoick said giving Hiccup a way out. "Sleep well."

"You too." Hiccup said and the two ended the call. In his hotel room, Stoick then called the pilot of the jet to ready the crew for a flight to the Haddock Industry main office, just out side of Berk proper and then made arrangements for a taxi to get home. He was tempted to ask Gobber but, he remembered that Gobber had only the one hand. After almost an hour Stoick's cell phone rang again, he answered it after one ring.

"Superintendent Haddock." Stoick said, his voice letting slip how tired he was, it was not from Hiccup's call but he was finally feeling truly tired.

"Um... superintendent, this is Astrid, Astrid Hofferson. It's about Hiccup, he's on the floor, shouting and screaming in pain, his hands holding his ears, what do I do?" Stoick never heard Astrid's voice over the phone but he did hear her voice before, when he met her after her championship win in wrestling her freshman year, making her the Pride of Berk. Stoick almost publicly announce that he wanted her as his daughter-in-law. Thankfully for Stoick only Gobber knows about that. Back to the matter at hand, Stoick felt the panic in Astrid's voice resonated though out his whole body.

* * *

><p>Astrid was startled.<p>

"Astrid, Astrid." she heard, it was gentle voice, like it her mother's, save that it was masculine "Astrid we need to talk." when Astrid heard the voice it startled her, in response she almost jumped out of bed and she punched the source. "Ow..." Astrid finally recognized the voice. It was Hiccup, he was more nasal than usual, consistent with Hiccup having been punched in the face, just almost on the nose... no right on the nose and she heard him stumbled back. It took her a while to find her glasses. "Oh thank the gods, its not broken." Hiccup said after a couple of seconds of forcing his nose around and stretching his face, mostly to see if his nose was broken.

"Hiccup, what are you doing here?" Astrid asked clearly confused at all this, there was no anger no feeling of being violated, just confusion.

"I couldn't sleep and I needed to talk with you, well at least voice something on my mind." Hiccup straighten up and took a set on the chair at the desk in the room. He had the back of the chair as the front, mostly to show Astrid that there is something in between the two, something stopping him, so that Astrid would not feel threaten. He took a deep breath, dipped his head and closed his eyes. "I am scared Astrid. I scared for you. I have this gut feeling that if you go back to your house Friday I will not see you unless its an open coffin ceremony next Tuesday. I can't explain why or how I have this feeling, but I do." Hiccup said most of his piece.

"What do you want me to do? I can't avoid my father forever, I have to go back sometime and I only have enough until Friday because I can get by with glasses here." Astrid answered her head dipped in slight sadness, Hiccup maybe sarcastic, some times sardonic, but he was always sincere and honest.

"Talk to someone, like Gobber, the police, Hel even my dad. Please Astrid." the paleness of his face, the narrowness of his eyes betrayed Hiccup's fear of Astrid's possible fate. The two's eyes locked.

Astrid knew what she had to do, well to get Hiccup to drop the subject. She was afraid of what would her father would do to her if she told anyone, that he would look for her and hurt her. No her only way out was to get accepted at a college as **FAR** away as possible, full scholarship and get a job not far from where she would graduate. "I'll talk with Stoick, I am not ready for the police and Gobber, well he means well." Astrid lied looking over her options, it was the most tack-ful response she had, looking slightly away from Hiccup and then she heard something or some one fell to the floor. She turned her attention to where she heard the sound came. Hiccup was tossing and turning on the floor. He was shouting in painas he held his ears tightly as if he was trying to overcome or block-out some noise. Astrid didn't know what to do. She did know that she couldn't ask Hiccup, she would not get a coherent answer from him, Toothless, No, she didn't speak... or what ever enabled Hiccup and Toothless to communicate with each other. She ran out the room to find the closest that had numbers to call. She found a wall phone on the floor. She didn't register it at first, but she did notice that there was a call previously made to a cellphone with no name, she didn't know why but she pressed redial.

The phone rang only once before it was answered, "Superintendent Haddock." the voice was clearlyand truly tired, like the speaker just finally realizedhow exhausted he was. It was familiar, it had a unique accent Scottish accent. She remembered the owner of the voice was, Superintendent Stoick "The Vast" Haddock, they met when she won the wrestling championship freshman year. Even if it was only for a short while, Stoick was more of a father than her own.

"Um... superintendent, this is Astrid, Astrid Hofferson. It's about Hiccup, he's on the floor screaming and shouting in pain,his hands holding his ears, what do I do?" Astrid asked she knew she was panicking, but that was all she could do.

Stoick's voice was calm and commanding, "Astrid, lass, first breath. You have to be calm, you need a slow and study heart-beat, if your heart rate is too fast it may prolong the episode, yet a study calm heart-beat soothes him, I don't know why or how, but it does. When the doctor explained to Hiccup and me that Hiccup's hearing is going to progressively deteriorate until it is gone, she also told us that the veins and arteries in his ears every so often will constrict, something about the muscles swelling and pinching them, plague build up, something. Blood thinners and muscle relaxing medication will not work in relieving the pain, and medication that block the pain receptors do too much. The best thing I have found to help Hiccup through these 'ear attacks' is hold his head to to your chest and let your heart beat loll him through the episodes until its over. Something about the vibrations of a heart-beat soothes him."

"Okay, hold his head to my chest, let him feel my heart-beat, until the attack is over." Astrid said back to Stoick, she was starting to calm down.

"Also one more thing, the doctor also said that Hiccup's hearing is likely to degenerative farther after an attack. So be prepared for him having a harder time hearing you, until he can adjust his hearing aid." Stoick informed. "When Hiccup is at a point where he can hear, let him know I will try to be home before you two have to go to school. He told me you were staying the week, something about working on that project Alvin assigns in his AP World History. I'd advise you two taking his car, I know each taking your own would appear better for whatever image you have Astrid, but trust me, he has the better car and in the end, you two are just going to end up taking the same car before Thursday, so you might as well start tomorrow." Stoick informed Astrid. "Oh and just between you and me, and by no means tell Hiccup." Stoick's voice was thicker in embarrassment than his accent "But I would love it if you became my daughter-in-law." Astrid's face couldn't image that her face could be any more red.

"I am going to try to forget that. See you later, Superintendent Haddock." Astrid, trying to regain her composure, and she ended the call. __Deep breath, deep breath, calm down, just focus on your breathing__ Astrid thought and was able to get back to a calm state. She returned to the room she was staying in and after struggling with Hiccup for a short while was able to place Hiccup's head so that his left ear was directly over her heart, she even rested her head on his and started to hum. It was the tune used in "Hush Little Baby" for some reason it brought back a happy memory, she must have been no more than five, it was of her and her parents, her mother was singing the song while the two sat on her father's lap, his arms around Astrid and her mother all three wrapped up in a blanket. It was a sweet, happy memory, but the following realization of how different things are was extremely bitter. It was all in all bitter-sweet.

After a couple of minutes of being held to Astrid's chest, Hiccup no longer heard the ringing, it was replaced with a heart-beat, a soft, slow and calm heart-beat, Astrid's heart-beat. It was the most precious sound he ever heard, what he would give to hear it forever, the gentle doki*, doki* of it. "Um...ah... Astrid, what... how?" Hiccup face went purple when he realized where he was. He pulled back and turned away flustered at this. He did turn to face Astrid and he saw her mouth move as if she was talking. Hiccup had not quite mastered reading lips, something he needed to work on because lets be honest few people even bother to learn ASL. "Hold on, I need to adjust my hearing aid." Hiccup said, it was in his normal tone, he had experienced talking to people when his hearing failed, thankfully it was mostly with Gobber. Gobber would normally hold out a piece a paper that had the message 'I can hear you perfectly well, speak as you normally do, you're shouting, Lad.' or something to that affect. Astrid dipped her head in slight frustration. Hiccup then adjusted his hearing aid. "Okay what were you trying to say?"

Astrid took a breath and then shouted out load as children are know to do just for fun "MORTAL COMBAT!" Hiccup fell back to the floor. Astrid was laughing at the scene for at least thirty seconds. "Just seeing if you can hear me. Stoick said that those 'attacks' can reduce your hearing more. I called him when you dropped to the floor, that's how I knew to hold your head to my chest. Something about it helping you through the 'ear attack'. Do you feel better?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, I should get going, see you..." Hiccup started as he got up and was trying to head out, but Astrid grabbed his right hand and pulled him in to embrace him from behind, not unlike a child holding a teddy bear. "I am not going anywhere until morning?" Hiccup asked as she brought the two down on to the bed. His face was deadpan, but it was obvious by his tone he was confused.

"I don't want to be alone tonight." Astrid answered was she pulled Hiccup as close as she could. It was as if she was saying that Hiccup was hers or he was being used as a security blanket or something around those lines, or less likely both. Hiccup was not sure what all this was about or why, but he knew better than to fight Astrid, she was a champion wrestler, granted she was female high school student specificity a sophomore, but she took on senior male members of the wrestling team and bested each of them when she was still a freshman. Hiccup also knew better than to argue with Astrid, he poked the dragon once before and knew if it were not for the fact she needed him, he would have been killed Thursday. Astrid drifted into sleep first, but her grip did not lessen at all, Hiccup a few minutes later. He did however have the alarm ready for school, well several, His cellphone, which happened to be in his pocket, the alarm clock in his room and with any luck Astrid would have an alarm set on her cellphone and maybe have one set on the clock in the guest room, there was also the big black cur. Toothless would bark as load as he could on Monday to Friday morning at some time between 5:15 and 6:00, not exactly Old Faithful, but the big mutt was still one of the best alarm clocks out there, granted it was not for school but because the mongrel wanted to walk. The night sleep was actually one of the best Hiccup ever had.

It was 5:00 AM when Hiccup open his eyes, as if he was perfectly rested and there Toothless was his tongue out like a happy puppy, his leash at his front paws "Don't bar..." Hiccup whispered trying to command the dog. But the dog cut Hiccup short and gave a bark that just responded through the room. Astrid then pushed Hiccup off the bed with all her might, clearly frighten and shouted out in fear. "Thanks for nothing you useless canine." Hiccup mummer his face on the floor. Toothless just bark softly and moved his leash closer to Hiccup and started pant happily.

It took Astrid a while to register everything. "Sorry. Your dog..."

"Don't worry its not your fault." Hiccup said. "Stupid cur." Hiccup said as he struggled to get to his feet. "I got to change to walk him and prep for school. So I guess you will be taking your car to school." Hiccup said as he started to head out of the room.

"Actually, let's take your car. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs know I am staying the week here, the whole student body will know by lunch, so might as well get it over with." Astrid then got out of the bed and then for some reason she recalled something and she felt that she had to ask "Hey Hiccup, I learned about the how holding your head to my chest because I called Stoick. Yet when I called it was a redial. So why did you call Stoick last night?"

AN: * 'doki, doki' is a Japanese onomonopia for heart-beat, often it used for the female heart-beat, while often the onomonopia for the male heart-beat is 'dokun, dokun'. Typically these are used when the heart is racing. The English equivalent onomonopia is 'lum-dum'. I watched a fair amount of Anime and read a fair amount of Manga


	12. Screwed Honesty and Agape

Chapter 11

Screwed Honesty and Agape

Hiccup was screwed

"Actually, let's take your car. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs know I am staying the week here, the whole student body will know by lunch, so might as well get it over with." Astrid then got out of the bed and then for some reason she recalled something and she felt that she had to ask "Hey Hiccup, I learned about the whole holding your head to my chest thing because I called Stoick. Yet when I called it was a redial. So why did you call Stoick last night?" Hiccup could lie, but that was at best a temporary solution that would lead to a greater problem, worse case scenario she'd kill him now. He could tell the truth, but that will result in his immediate death as the worse case scenario, he couldn't compute what the best case scenario.

Well he was already deep in the affairs of dragons, might as well apply the ketchup himself*. "Remember the gut feeling I told you I had. I shared it with my father first. I know I should have talked with you before I call him. I was so worried about you, I was stupid, I was inconsiderate, I was..." Hiccup said as he and Astrid faced each other. He was cut short not by a slap as he expected, but by a kiss.

As Hiccup was saying "I was stupid" A multitude of thoughts raced through Astrid's mind, overwhelming each other one by one and shocking her, 'How could Hiccup tell someone behind mine back.' 'I thought he did not get along with his Dad.' 'He reached out to his father because he was afraid of something happening to me.' 'He was afraid of something happening to me.' 'He cares about me, enough to talk to his estranged father.', just to list a few but the last thing her mind focused on was 'He cares about me.' Hiccup was too focused on his listing his faults in this to notice Astrid's face lighten up. Just and he said "I was" for the forth time, she grabbed his shoulders, pulled him in and kissed him. "That's for caring." Astrid said, her face red with modesty, she may be one of the toughest girls around, but she was still a girl. But that moment of Astrid's modesty and the brief bliss the two felt was short as she kneed Hiccup right between the legs, it was not as forceful as it could be, by Astrid's standards, it was not meant to injure Hiccup permanently, but to underline a point. "Tell anyone else and you'll wish getting kneed in the family jewels was all I'd do. You poked the bear twice. You have been warned should you attempt it thrice*." Astrid whispered as she caught Hiccup before he fell over, granted he was actually very resolute and only leaning forward, bringing his right ear to with in an inch of her face and whispered, her voice sweeping with what can be best described as the venom of her warning.

After Astrid let him go "Understood." Hiccup squeaked, his voice three octaves higher than normal, his face contorted indicating his pain. Yet to his credit he was still standing and slowly regaining his proper posture. Astrid knew Hiccup could take a hit, but she never knew if he could take a hit like that.

"Glad we understand each other." Astrid the went for her bag to get the clothes she was going to wear for school. It was her signature light blue striped top, blue pants with a red studded-skirt with the plastic skull lined belt and a head band. Before she finished getting her stuff she turned back to Hiccup. "For what is worth, Snotlout, Eret and pretty much every other guy you be on their knees and curled over for a blow like that." It didn't have the most tack, but it was what she knew, or rather how to say it. Hiccup could take a hit and keep going, no other guy she knew could do that... save maybe her father, granted she never tried.

"So what exactly are you saying?" Hiccup's voice slowly returning to its normal octave, his head leaning to his right as he was able to fully recover and was heading out the room, the pain starting to subside.

"Most guys boast about having brass ones, you got steel ones."

"I just got hit there by Astrid Hofferson and I am still on my feet, well foot and fake-foot, they have to be mithril. If my voice didn't change octaves they be adamantine." Hiccup pointed out as he finished leaving the room and headed to his room to change and then take Toothless for the walk. His face had a slight blush, he was complimented by Astrid Hofferson about how durable he was in the most sensitive area of the male anatomy, while correcting Astrid and also boasting about the compliment and the ability to correct Astrid. Hiccup however felt some fear, that Astrid would call him out maybe violently.

"Mithril is better, it can go with the flow and not snap. Adamantine once forged cannot adjust making it brittle and will break at a some point." Astrid called outHiccup had to dip his head and shake it, the academic rivalry is not over, but at least it was not going to be a back-stabbing, throat-cutting engagement anymore.

After getting dress Hiccup took Toothless out for a short walk, Astrid decided to make breakfast again. She had a great night's sleep, even better than Friday night's and Saturday night's. In fact if she had two more minutes she would have woke up just as Hiccup did. Also something about making things, like breakfast for herself and Hiccup, just seemed to just click. The two ate when Hiccup and Toothless came home and then the two got into Hiccup's Stingray and headed to school. It was nice to not have to drive or walk, Astrid even took a short rest, it was if Peace was brought to her*.

* * *

><p>All the students that were already in the school parking lot were agape.<p>

Astrid Hofferson, the toughest and hottest girl, the 'queen bee'* of every heterosexual guy, homosexual girl and bisexual of either sex, came out of Hiccup's Stingray. Hiccup, the least masculine while not being effeminate guy in the whole school. Everyone was frozen as the blood ran from their faces, their eyes dilating to the extreme and the mouths hang open. No one reached for their cellphones to take a picture, they couldn't move as the watched Hiccup open the passenger door, Astrid coming out, each grabbing their back-packs and started walking to school. Well Astrid strut like the warrior-goddess everyone viewed her as almost un-phased by the staring, her head high, chin-up and face forward. Hiccup was significantly more self-conscious as he ducked his head and bolted to the relative safety of home room. However no one moved from their spot until the second bell rang.

Astrid was right, the whole school was going to find out by lunch from the loose cannons of the Thorsten twins and the panicky Fishlegs. Astrid didn't care what was said behind her back, she was envied by most of the girls in school especially by her self-appointed rival for the center of the admiring and also part of the wrestling and track teams, the captain of the track team, Camicazi Bog. Not that Astrid cared for opinion of the wild girl with regards to boys, but she knew better than to disrespect her. Camicazi lived up to her name. Not the suicide-bombers of WWII employed by the Japanese Navy, they were named 'kamikazi' because they were sacrificed to evoke the 'Divine-Wind' (kami=divine/god, kazi=wind) to destroy the US invading fleet much like the storms in 1274 and 1281 that saved Japan from the Mongolian invasions of Kublai Khan. "So DB, I heard you got a left from Useless." Astrid and Camicazi were once close friends, like in kindergarten to 6th grade. They started calling each other either DB for Astrid and DW for Camicazi, Astrid could never recall why. But the nicknames stuck, even with Astrid's burning of that bridge. To Camicazi's credit she never took the backstabbing personally or viewed it as backstabbing, to her it was a change from the sorority of childhood to the competition of being the best female that starts in adolescence and carries into adulthood. But Camicazi did keep a safe distance from Astrid starting in the 7th grade.

"He's actually a great driver, I was able to take a nice little preschool nap and it was the best nap I ever had. So is DW envious of me riding in Hiccup's Stingray?" Astrid knew how to press but not push Camicazi's buttons, she said as she turned from her locker to face Camicazi.

"I think more people are envious of Hiccup. No one else can get you to accept the offer for a short left and you come to school in his car. Since he's your ride, you may want to be ready to kill to keep him alive."

"So I should be what... his Guardian Shield-maiden* or something like that?" Astrid asked.

"You may have to. Also be wary, you may have to worry about those guys and girls that build up those fantasies that they are in a relationship with you can will try to..." Astrid glared, both knew that no-one at school was stupid, crazy, bold or resolute enough to try anything like kill her for perceived infidelity and was able to and vice-verse. "Just advising you to be careful, I need you for gold this year on the track, DB." Camicazi said backing a little bit and turning slightly away. "I heard you're staying the week at the Haddock's place. Now that I am envious of."

"Tuffnut told you. Didn't he?"

"I have to know why he was not helping with getting the project together. I know I had the agreement with him to do most of the work and call him up for editing and rehearsing the skit, but still I like to know what he's doing or did during that time." Camicazi answered, her face flustered red as she ran her fingers through her long hair that went past her hip. "There is so much stuff to go through for the French Revolution, I know I picked to for the amount of research matter but... ah!"

"Well best of luck, got to go, its my AP English, see you in World History." Astrid said and left Camicazi a little too much in a hurry. Camicazi then started towards her own first class of the day, Norse Studies which happen to be with Hiccup. She was not mad at Astrid over the past, she got it, she actually knew why, Mr. Hofferson abused Astrid. She never told anyone, it was not her secret to tell. How Camicazi knew, well it was a guess based on books she read over the summer that touched on abusive relationships and her older brother was recently on a Criminal Minds watching binge and got her to watch a few episodes. Camicazi did wish that the two could go back to being true friends like back in the forth grade, maybe Hiccup is what Astrid needs, like goats for thorough-breed racing horses*, Camicazi thought as she walked down the hall. 'Hiccstrid, I'd ship that.' She whispered to her self.

Lunch time, Hiccup was alone, he had his back to a corner. He long ago realized that bullies will give him limited if any rest and that was before Astrid started, mostly thankful to his step-cousin Snotlout. As Hiccup was eating he felt a presence come and sit next to him on his left. He looked and saw a male student, he had black hair, brown eyes he was best described as a gentle giant, and was actually Hiccup's upperclassman, Thuggory Murderous. Thuggory rarely spoke, often communicating in ASL, simply because he could and most because it would be confusing to most, which was his intent. So when he said "May we talk?" Hiccup knew to pay attention.

"Um... sure, what's up Thuggory?" Hiccup asked as he turned to face Thuggory.

"I heard you gave Astrid a left to school and that she's staying at your place." Thuggory said point blank, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess everyone knows about it now."

"Trust only Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Astrid. No one else, especially me. Everyone else will present a face of 'congratulations' but they are plotting how to get Astrid away from you without having your father bring the hammer down." Thuggory maybe blunt but he has always spoken out for Hiccup and only acted in what he believed to be Hiccup's best interest. "You should have seen Snotlout when he heard the news. He's been speaking his electrocuted-Snotlout all day, I almost bust my gut, ROTFLOL when he first try to speak after hearing the news." Thuggory chuckled. "By the way sorry about your hearing."

"How did you..."

"You have been learning ASL and ISL* from me since the start of your freshman year. I know and use it because two of my sisters are mute and the other one is actually deaf. Only people whom are deaf or mute and people in a relationship with them learn ASL or ISL, whether or not they are related." Hiccup spot out his drink when Thuggory said "in a relationship". "I don't mean it like that, pervert. But I am correct with that use of 'relationship', I may be related as a brother to my sisters, but I am actively involved and invested in the relationships. Cannot say the same thing concerning your father with how things are with you, whether or not its my place to say."

"So what do you advice I do about the 'hit-men'?" Hiccup asked deadpanning.

"Get a Shield-maiden, I recommend Astrid. Camicazi is too all over the place and Ruffnut is... let's face it unreliable." Thuggory answered matter-of-factory

"Seriously, what do recommend?" Hiccup asked flustered.

"Stay as close to Astrid as possible, everyone is either too scared of her to do anything or unable to do anything." Thuggory all but ordered.

"Thanks." Hiccup deadpanned. Just then Snotlout walked up to the two and looking at Hiccup with all the anger in the world.

"Y'r slpng wth Strd‽" Snotlout said, he was stuck in his electrocuted speech, which involved his tongue for the most part hanging out of his mouth and the absence of vowels in his words.

"He said 'You're sleeping with Astrid" as both a question and an explanation, what's that symbol called?" Tuffnut said coming up and joining the three, translating for everyone.

"Its called the 'interrobang', Tuffnut, and great call. As for your question-explanation, Snotlout, I am not sleeping with Astrid. She's staying in the guest room."

"I dn't blv y, y hv t b gttng smthng frm Strd" Snotlout said.

"He said..."

"Let me help, with that. Snoty put it there." This voice sent chills down everyone's spine. It was Dagur D. Berserker. He was one of the creepiest students around. He had a weird three claw scratch tattoo around his left eye. He was a year older than Tuffnut, Snotlout and Hiccup but a year younger than Thuggory. Tuffnut was too scared to trust him, Hiccup knew better, Thuggory just plainly disliked Dagur, but Snotlout was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Snotlout took Dagur's out reached right hand with his own and was zapped by one of those hand zappers used to prank people into getting an electric shock, however it was slightly modified to give a greater than the average shock but it was not going to cause any permanent damage.

After getting over the zap, Snotlout spoke, "I said 'I don't...' I can talk normally again. Thanks Dag."

"Anytime, Snoty. Hic, Tuff, Thug, see you around." Dagur than left, snickering at his successful prank to zap someone, he clearly enjoyed zapping Snotlout, way too much.

"Amendment to my earlier statement, You can trust Dagur as well, he's too crazy to want Astrid. But you should remain wary of him. Granted we should all fear for his father, Oswald."

"Forgot Old Agreeable, you're sleeping in the same house as Astrid, MY ASTRID!" Snotlout was red in the face with wrath, his eyes narrowed to a diameter of a pin's point. Astrid would send two nights with the runt and not bat an eye at the second pick of the litter, Eret was in all honesty the pick of the sophomore, but this was the ultimate insult as far as Snotlout was concerned.

"That's not I heard from Ruffnut, I hear you've been pining over Heather lately." Tuffnut pointed out. The only response Tuffnut got was a glare from Snotlout.

"Astrid is the bone Snotlout gnaws on when he has nothing else, Heather happens to be the current fresh piece of meat. Once Snotlout is done with Heather he'll go back to Astrid until the next girl comes along." Thuggory interjected. Everyone stared at the senior. "I am not trying to say that girls are pieces of meat, but clearly Snotlout is a dog and that's what dogs do."

"I got to get going, its almost time for my Geo..."

"You're not going anywhere Screw-up." Snotlout said slamming his fist down.

"Not to poke the bear, but is threatening me with violence is not your best option right now. You're on thin ice at the school as it is, Astrid already dislikes you, my father can have you sent all the way Luk Tuk, and there is nothing you can do that Astrid hasn't already done. She even says I have 'mithril ones'." Hiccup said not in his typical deadpan manner, but truly stoic like his father.

"What the hell is mithril?" Snotlout asked he eyes squinted in confusion at the term Hiccup use. He actually got the 'ones' reference, it was not that hard to figure out. But at the rest Snotlout draw a plank.

"Seriously, dude, you don't know? We had to read 'The Lord of The Rings' over the summer. Ruffnut and I came over to your place like every other day watching the movie and discuss it while comparing and contrasting the books and movies with Fishlegs." Tuffnut pointed out. Tuffnut was brighter than Snotlout and Thuggory figured, the two were slightly agape, however while Thuggory's eyes in awe widen Snotlout's constricted in ire. Hiccup remained stoic, but quietly left the table and was able to vanish before Snotlout could say or do anything else with regards to the whole Astrid staying at Hiccup's place.

The rest of the day for Hiccup was spent slipping in and out of the shadows, he still had the limp but for some reason everyone was like in a daze, like they still could not compute that Hiccup gave Astrid a ride to school, their response times were slower or maybe something about having Astrid had him faster, able to respond quicker. The trickiest part was getting to his car to get to his job...well apprenticeship really, but even that was surprisingly easy.

Astrid had practice after school, and was able to get a ride to the Haddock's house from Gobber. Despite being one of the most disabled residents of Berk, Gobber was the most active resident, teaching shop at the school, couch of the track and wrestling teams, owner and manager of Belch's Forge and the Meade Hall restaurant, Hel, he would have given Stoick a lift home. Gobber didn't ask questions about why Astrid was staying at the Haddocks, he got enough drama from and concerning Astrid on the field and in the ring, and concerning Hiccup... the kid means well but there is just not enough space in the Forge for the work and Hiccup's experiments. Gobber was most dumbfounded by the light on in the living room, Stoick usually doesn't come home until Friday nights. "Well I be a talking fishbone's uncle... um don't tell anyone I said that. But you should hear Hiccup's impersonation of Stoick. Well lass here you go. See yea in the morrow." Gobber said as he let Astrid out. "I need to check on Hiccup, make sure he doesn't hurt a customer with his manliness." Astrid wanted to roll her eyes, but let it go.

"I'll see you tomorrow Gobber." Astrid said as got out of the car and walked as if nothing happened. She was thankful that her back was to Gobber as she was able to shirker at the idea of Hiccup being manly. She would have ROTFLOL but she had an image, at least until she got into the house. "Good evening Super..." Astrid started as she entered the house.

"Call me Stoick, lass. The nearly infamous Astrid Hofferson, the Pride of Berk, a guess in my own home, welcomed in by Hiccup. I never thought I see the day Hiccup would let girls into the house, to be honest I was a little worried he never would... um don't tell him I said that, he thinks poorly about me enough and he's right to do so. So what should we make for dinner?" Stoick asked as he headed to the kitchen. Astrid was impressed, despite being a titan among fleas, Stoick was one of the most graceful people she met.

"Well I had wrestling practice and Hiccup will be coming back from the Forge, so something rich in rebuilding proteins, maybe some carbs. How about salmon?"

"Fresh out of that, but we got smoked eel, looks like Hiccup will either endure it or starve. If it makes things easier I don't care much for eel either. But when my father, old Squidface the Terrible, said 'Eat the eel' you ate it. You should the story behind how he got that name" Stoick said from the kitchen, he continued to go about the rest of his past, the strictness of his father, etc, it most have been Stoick's subtle way to get Astrid to talk about her father. But Astrid could tell that Stoick was not going to directly bring up her father, he shouldn't and he couldn't. So Astrid elected to let Stoick continue as she helped him get dinner together. She was not going to talk about her father, but she had the feeling that all she had to do now was wait out until Friday, assuming Hiccup was not going to ask about it, but why would Hiccup ask if she talked to Stoick or verified with Stoick, it would constitute poking the bear thrice and they have an understanding, Astrid thought. The eel diner was surprisingly good, despite Hiccup's grips.

A/N: *this is a reference to the bumper sticker 'Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for ye are crunchy and go good with ketchup.'

*Thrice is the one-word way to say 'Three-time"

*This refers to another DreamWork picture Kung Fu Panda, and Po's relationship to Master Shifu in the end of the movie.

*'queen bee' in this context is borrowed from an episode of the TV series Criminal Minds, in it the term is used to describe a woman or girl that is the first reject-er of a guy, the woman that made a guy first feel emasculated. Here I use it to mean the focal female of others wants but cannot be obtained.  
>*Guardian Shield-maiden is a call out to Rumbling Night Cutter's 'Guardian Night Fury'<p>

*ISL is the abbreviated form of International Sign Language, which is the Sign used in most counties around the world


End file.
